


Despite Everything, It's Still You.

by CrusnikRoxas



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: 'cause why not, AKA you - Freeform, Blood and Violence, Domestic, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Female Protagonist, Flowey is a bitch, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gaster is not Badster, Hurt/Comfort, Little bit of angst, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Most of them are....most., Mysteries! Way too many of them! :D, POV Second Person, Protective Sans, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Science, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, So is Toriel, Soulbonds, You'll be drowning in puns, and you'll love it, he's kind of a motherhen, papyrus is a sweetheart, slowest of burns, so many puns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-08 15:49:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 75
Words: 308,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13461474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrusnikRoxas/pseuds/CrusnikRoxas
Summary: You're at your limit.Life has never been the kindest, in regards to you. But now, it's just getting to be too much....something has to give.So, you decide to make a change........and as a result, fall down a giant hole.Yeah, life's funny like that.





	1. Off To A Flying Start

**Author's Note:**

> 'Sup.  
> This is my first fanfic.  
> Please don't hate me T-T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our journey begins....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

You never have been very popular.

Perhaps it was your happy-go-lucky attitude – or perhaps it was the fact that you still retained this attitude despite having really shitty luck…or maybe your personality quirks? Well, you always had been a little different, sure, but what's wrong with a little eccentric behaviour? It makes life more fun!

Regardless, perhaps if people liked you more...perhaps none of the day would have happened as it did.

But we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves.

Your day gets off to a flying start – well, in a sense. You hit your cheap rough carpet with a loud, ‘oof’, as you fall dramatically out of bed. Wincing, and feeling for the new collection of bruises, you wobble up to a hunched standing, swaying, rubbing sleep from your eyes.

"Never thought I’d be falling for you so soon, carpet!", you laugh, unashamed of your customary brand of humour. You stumble to your bathroom mirror, grumbling to yourself at your crumpled reflection – hair in an attractive bird’s nest, cheekbone already turning red from a no doubt fantastic bruise.

"Well, at least I won’t have to put on any blusher, heh…not that I do, anyway..."

You never have been one for make-up – a little eyeliner and eyeshadow, sure, but as for the rest of it…you were never comfortable with foundation on (it felt gross and heavy), and your lips were already a nice red colour naturally, so it felt as if there was little point to plastering it on. Better to be natural!

You sigh, begrudgingly slapping some toothpaste on your worn out toothbrush (you liked to think that it had character), distastefully eyeing your apartment, if you could call it that. It had been the only one you could afford – no bigger than a shoebox. A room, with a single bed (though it didn’t really feel like one…hehe, it was a bedrock), a dresser with barely holding doors, and in the corner a ‘kitchen’ - a microwave and sink. You could actually cook quite a bit in a microwave, so it wasn’t too terrible. And your beautiful en-suite, of course...a toilet stained an attractive decaying colour, which persisted no matter how many times you scrubbed it, and your sink/shower (you always were one for being able to get water out of a stone). Ah, the lap of luxury.

Still, you were never one to complain – at least you found a place to live! It was slightly better than a cardboard box – you had the option of running water.

"Well, barely...", you mutter to yourself, as you violently smack the hot water tap to encourage it to work long enough for you to wash your face. After finally being successful (well, it was lukewarm, but that was some kind of victory), you groggily dry your face with your only towel (you loved it – it was black with little skeletons all over it, velvety and fluffy), and hastily smack your cheeks to slap on some kind of a smile.

"Ok! You got this! Another day, another meal! We can do this!"

You nod determinedly to yourself, attempting to give your reflection a confident wink, and then laughing hysterically at the result, which was more of a twitch than anything else; definitely not something you were trying to achieve.

Some might ask how you got yourself into such a desperate situation – and the simple answer was that you had more or less been born into it.

Your mother had died in childbirth, your father deciding to commit suicide soon after, when he found he couldn't cope with the fact the love of his life was gone, and he would have to raise a child alone. You didn’t blame him – it must have been horrible, losing the love of your life in such a tragic manner; no, you couldn’t blame him, even if it was considered a selfish act…you could never see not being able to cope with grief as something selfish. You were raised in the most stereotypical of orphanages, cockroaches and all. Not that you exactly minded – the cockroaches were a hell of a lot nicer to you than your fellow orphans and adult minders. In fact, you really did prefer the company of animals to humans...they gave out an aura of peace and happiness, and offered unconditional love and kindness. With people, despite your efforts to always be polite, kind, and cheerful, you had always been met with spite and scorn, no matter the situation. Of course, you knew that there were nice people out there – it was just unfortunate that your life had not as of yet decided to grace you with their presence. But it was fine, you were patient! You were a strong believer in fate, and you would keep striving for happiness, no matter the cost. What else could you do? It’s not like you had anyone…

 

_It’s not as if anyone would care if you were gone…_

 

 

"Urgh! Enough!", you yelp to yourself, hurriedly slapping your cheeks again.

Looking at the time, you yelp again, realising that by becoming lost in thought, you’d not left yourself any time to have breakfast. You run about your apartment/room, frantically grabbing and pulling on your work clothes (a plain white button up shirt with long sleeves, a tasteful black skirt, back tights and comfy pumps) – you snag your keys and other essentials, before shutting and locking your door.

Now, as previously mentioned, you liked to be as polite possible (within reason), so slamming your door in urgency was never an option. However, as was always the running mantra of your mornings…

"y/n! Stupid bitch, how many times do I have to tell you to close your damn door quietly!", shrieked your delightfully shrivelled landlady, a Mrs. Penelope Beaworthy.

"Sorry, Mrs. Beaworthy! I’m in a bit of a hurry, I must have been careless."

You inwardly groan at the following snigger and smug tone, noticing how her mean, icy blue eyes crinkled with rare happiness (though admittedly this was at your own expense, which was also the norm).

"Yes, careless, as always. Late for work again, hmm? I don’t know why your employer puts up with your stupidity."

You laugh awkwardly through gritted teeth. Suddenly she narrows her eyes at you, stooping a little closer, her wispy white hair wobbling precariously in it’s high bun.

"Your face is bruised again, girl. Has your boyfriend been beating you?"

You sigh, realising you have to explain this far too often.

"No, Mrs. Beaworthy. I don’t have a partner, it was honestly my fault – I fell out of bed this morning. Well, technically it was for the floor’s own good."

Her eyes narrowed further.

"What on earth do you mean, girl?"

"Well, it just looked so lonely. So I had to give it a hug."

If looks could kill, you’d be a pillar of salt long by now.

And so, with the awkward silence following you, you exited the run down building. Oh, how you often wished you could give the old crone a piece of your mind, but sadly this place really was the only place that you could afford.

Still, despite the slightly chaotic start to your day, you found that you could now smile at your surroundings. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and flowers were blooming in the nearby fields. Despite how you were raised, you had no complaints with the location. Well, the natural side of it, anyway – you didn’t really like cities and towns. Your town was Ebott, a fairly small farming town nestled within the shadow of the infamous Mt. Ebott. Infamous for the stories, of course – a ‘haunted’ mountain always had a story or two. Still, what was unusual was that people in the town almost viciously believed in the stories…stories that long ago, two races ruled over Earth; humans and monsters. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell – a barrier. And if anyone were to dare step foot on the ‘unholy grounds’ they would disappear, forever, never to be seen again. The townspeople had even erected a barbed wire fence around it (which you always thought was rather pointless, as if you could manage to climb it, no doubt a ‘monster’ probably would be able to, as well), just to be sure. You personally thought the mountain was beautiful, and you had always itched to explore it, but also knew that the locals would probably burn you at the stake or something if you ever came back from your probably lovely mountain walk.

And so you daydream as your stride towards your meagre workplace – a simple desk job, calling people to inquire if they would like some shoddy life insurance, and of course deal with said people when they find out that said life insurance is shoddy. You mentally gather yourself, before pushing open the glass door.

"y/n! Well, hello gorgeous, early as always? What, couldn’t wait to see me?"

You inwardly cringe, pasting on a false smile for your sleazy boss, Ross McFarlen.

"Good morning, Mr. McFarlen…well, I’d better get to my desk."

"Now hold on just a minute, baby – whoa, what happened to that pretty face? Did you ‘walk into a door’ again?"

He gives a patronising smile, so you spread your already thin smile a little wider.

"Oh no sir. I was just saying hello to my carpet."

"...well. I know you have a busy day ahead of you, so I won’t hold you back from that...so please come see me in my office at the end of the day."

He hastily shoots some finger guns at you, before turning into his swanky office – in fact, it was the only ‘nice’ room in the entire building. It was obvious that McFarlen had only bothered to put any expense into his office, leaving it sleek and modern. Not that you were really into modern buildings or rooms at all, you much preferred old buildings with comfortable characters.

You never thought you would be the person who would tolerate a complete perv of a boss who tried to involve himself in your personal life, but much like your living situation, this was the only job you had, and the only one were ever likely to have.

Ross McFarlen was the perfect stereotype of the ‘pervert boss’ - at some point in his life, he was probably fairly good looking, but those days were long gone. Over dyed blonde hair was obviously turning into balding wisps (no doubt due to trying to hide any grey hairs that emerged), his bulging eyes were bloodshot with obvious drinking, and his body was big on the nasty side, enhanced by the fact that he had made the poor decision to wear shirts that were too tight.

Grumbling to yourself, you plonk yourself heavily in your cheap and scratchy office chair, chucking your possessions haphazardly on the fake-wood desk. You gently tap in your password (suitable nerdy, of course – OrionTheGreatHunter, your favourite constellation) to check your emails. Apart from the usual spam attempting to get you to spend money you don’t have on pointless things that you would never want, it was empty. You absent-mindedly scrawled through YouTube, giggling at ‘birb’ videos, while your fellow drones flowed in and took their desks. Not that you actually knew any of them – you always said hello and good morning, and were always met with a non committal grunt in return. This was precisely the reason why you had never bothered to create a Facebook account. Well, you supposed the morning routine was some kind of warped social life.

And so, yet another work day begun. Your day was filled with various computer keyboard tapping, various angry phone calls from indignant costumers, and many YouTube videos in between to keep you sane. But eventually it was finished, and as your robotic workmates filed out, you had the absolute joy of attempting to plaster on a smile so you didn’t look too murderous when you entered Mr. McFarlen’s den. Sadly attempting to escape without such a joyful visit was impossible, as his glass office faced the one and only exit (a fire hazard to be sure, but who would honestly give enough of a damn to check?). The McFlaren family were ridiculously wealthy and influential within Ebott, so Ross could more or less do whatever he pleased as far as how shitty his buildings were, and how shoddy his ‘life insurance plan’ was. Sighing, you pick up your things, and begrudgingly tapped at McFlaren’s door.

"Ah, y/n! Yes, please do come in."

 _As if you didn’t know it was me, you can quite obviously see the entire office_ , you think to yourself, but do not dare voice your opinions as you wander into his office and stand awkwardly by his oversized desk ( _compensating for something, McFarlen?_ ).

"You wanted to see me, Mr. McFarlen?"

"No need to be so cold, my dear. Please, do take a seat."

"I’m sorry, sir, but I really do need to get home, so I’d prefer not to get comfortable."

He regards you for a minute with his beady eyes (you couldn’t see the colour – they were too small), which makes your skin crawl.

"y/n, you can call me Ross, you know."

"I’d prefer to keep professional, sir."

"Ah, well, you see...I would prefer not to, if you catch my drift, my dear."

 

You feel your blood freeze over with a sudden sense of danger.

 

"Yes, y/n, you always come in here, always so polite, always teasing me with that..."

"Sir?"

"You think that’s very nice of you, y/n? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to restrain myself?"

 

You tense up, turning around, about to make a break for it, which he seems to sense, as the next thing he says makes to tense up for a whole different reason.

 

"Do you like your job, y/n? Or rather, do you like having a job at all?"

 

You turn back to look at him, seeing the smug look upon his flabby face, and feel the ice in your boil begin to heat up with anger.

 

"Oh yes. As you know, y/n, my family is quite the influence in this town. So, if you ever want to work…well, anywhere, actually, you’ll be a good girl and give me what I want."

 

Right, that was it, you’d had _enough_.

 

"Listen here, you over-weight, stuck up prick! I am not some ‘thing’ you can manipulate – I don’t give a flying fuck if I don’t have a job, I’ll always find a way – and let me tell you, that way will never have anything to do with ‘giving you what you want’...even a cheap whore would have more honour than that."

 

For a moment you feel quite proud of yourself, until you realise McFarlen seemed to be turning a horrific purple colour. For a while you think you might have killed him with your insults, but before you can even consider if you should congratulate yourself, panic, or start thinking about how to dispose of a human body, he almost whispers,

"You’ll regret this, you bitch. I’ll make it my mission to make your life a living hell. You’re fired. Get out."

For once, you decide not to bite your tongue before slamming the door behind you.

"Well, joke’s on you, buddy – you’ve already made my life a million times better by firing me."

Hearing the resulting crash as something is thrown at the closed door ( _good, hope you cracked your stupid, expensive door_ ), and the hoarse shout of anger fills you with…determination. 

And so you stride back towards your hovel, feeling happy for the first time in ages...before it hits you have no income.

The panic is almost immediately taken over by your logical side, as you realise you could at least claim job seeker’s allowance, until you had some sort of plan, which would just about cover your rent. You would just have to buy less food...or do some dumpster diving. So you can relax. For now.

Or so you thought, as you walked into your building, only to be met with the oh so welcoming, lovely Mrs. Beaworthy.

She fixes you with a harsher glare than usual, oddly standing in perfect silence, something not like her at all.

"Mrs. Beaworthy? Is everything -"

You don’t get any further in your question, as you're suddenly met with a harsh slap across your cheek, adding to the forgotten bruise you’d acquired this morning.

"Disgusting girl. How _dare_ you treat my grandson in such a manner!"

"Grandson? Mrs. Beaworthy, what the _actual_ -"

"Ross! My sweet boy Ross!"

Suddenly it all made sense. Mrs. Beaworthy’s constant malicious behaviour, and how you’d managed to even get that shitty job in the first place...and how McFarlen had promised to make your life a living hell.

"I want you out."

"Mrs. Beaworthy -"

"In an hour."

"Please, wait -"

"Hurry up."

"Mrs. Beaworthy, look, I get it, ok, but by law, you’re supposed to give a notice of..."

"Do you think I give a damn? Oh, little girl, you’ve crossed the wrong family. Who do you honestly think pulls the strings of Ebott? My ex-husband and his family are going to make you even more of a pariah than you already are."

You feel your heart thud with the sudden sadness, and it must of shown on your face, as Mrs. Beaworthy smirked.

"Oh yes, you honestly didn’t think I knew about that? You never have anyone to visit. You never leave your room unless it’s for work, or to get food. And I can hear you crying at night, and screaming in your sleep. Why would anyone want to even attempt to socialize with a freak like you? I never understood why Ross kept you around – it must have been some odd entertainment. Still, I’m glad that little fascination is gone. Now, go."

You feel angry tears track down your face, as you wonder why this kind of crap always seemed to happen.

"Right, I get it, you old crone. Now, move it."

You move your way up the stairs in a daze, Mrs. Beaworthy’s laughter echoing up the staircase.

You slam your door.

As you gather what little things you own, and quickly change into something that might provide some comfort (a chilled out dress, which was a beautiful sky blue) you wondered what you could do. All the doors seemed closed, all the options exhausted…until you looked out of your window.

There Mt. Ebott stood, beautiful as always.

And suddenly, you were filled with more clarity than you had felt in years.

You had always been practical, able to fix things, able to make magic out of scraps, and always able to look after yourself, as that was all you had ever known.

So it was perfectly logical to assume you could survive out there, on the mountain.

Or at least, you could die knowing some kind of happiness.

And so, you dry your tears, a true smile forming on your face, shoving all you owned into your beat up, but trustworthy, backpack.

Slamming your door again with gusto, you jump your way down the stairs, happily stomping your feet, taking your damn sweet time, all the while aiming an award winning smile at a shocked Mrs. Beaworthy.

You stand before her, handing her the keys to your former shoebox.

Before you can make your grand exit, she surprisingly asks in an almost timid tone, "So...what will you do?"

"Oh, my dear Mrs. Beaworthy..."

You turn towards her, allowing your grin to become manic, shocking her further.

 

_"..I’m going to become a monster."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, welp, here we are. At the start >.<   
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got fanart? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas


	2. Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you.....prepare. Who would have guessed it? :o

You found yourself practically skipping down the street, cheerfully waving at the curious and disapproving onlookers. It was a lovely day, even though it really should be one of the worst in your life. You had lost everything, and yet gained everything – no home, no job, but you had freedom, real freedom…or at the very least, it felt as if you had it. You really had no real idea what living on the mountain would be like, but you did have an inkling, having watched a lot of survival videos – they had always been very informative, considering you often didn’t have enough money for essentials like cutlery, so learning to make something out of nothing had been more useful than you could have ever have known. But living in the wild wasn’t just going to be about being able to craft things, like a shelter, or a few spoons. No, you would need a way to keep warm, you would need some kind of light, as well as other human essentials…especially with you being female, a supply of things like sanitary towels would be more than essential. And medication...well, it’s not like there was anything wrong with you, shockingly, considering the amount of times you had to sleep in freezing temperatures in your lifetime, and your constant poor diet. But you needed the combi pill – you were lazy, and never liked being surprised by your period, so being able to know was always very convenient for you. So you had a few jobs to complete before you could plan sneaking over that blasted fence, sadly.

  
So, first things first! Time to go to a pharmacy. More or less storming in through the automatic doors, you enter the establishment. A pompous looking women looking at dietary supplements glares at you as you walk in, obviously offended by your smile. So you smile wider at her, openly not giving a damn.

  
"Good afternoon! Lovely day, isn’t it?!"

  
The woman pulled a face as if she’d been sucking a lemon, making a ‘hmmf’ noise, before turning back to her delicious supplements.

  
Letting out a humourless chuckle, you grab a basket, and empty the shelf stock on your favourite sanitary items, your favourite brand of toothpaste (you got a load of new toothbrushes as well – as lovely as your old faithful was, you needed to be practical), face wash, and a few other things you would probably need to stop yourself looking like a cavewoman, even if you would probably be living like one. Yes, it was true, your bank account was a poor looking thing, but at this point, you did not care about going into, or over your overdraft – you were going outside of the system, and you were never returning. So you might as well spend like a millionaire for the first and last time.

  
You approach the desk, getting the attention of the clerk – a lanky teenage boy with acne, chewing gum in a bored way, looking as if he would rather be anywhere but here. Hoo boy, were you gonna make him feel even worse.

  
You heft your overfilled basket upon the desk, seeing his sleepy eyes open in shock. Turning your seemingly now-constant smile on him, you say,

  
"Hey there, buddy. Kinda need...um...well, all you have of these things in my basket in stock, aaand...co-codamol, lemsip, your best eye drops and ear drops, hypoallergenic plasters, bandages, and uh….the combi pill. Oh, and all of those things you have in stock, too."

  
He has, by now, thank god, started to take a list.

  
"Oh, uh, right, but…you know, this is gonna cost a lot, ma'am?"

  
Ma'am? Really? You didn’t know you looked that washed out, considering you were only 23, but apparently you did.

  
"Yuuup, certainly do. But kinda need it...you see..."

  
You lean in a little closer to him.

  
"My flow is that heavy. Honestly, it’s a total shark week. Like that chocolate river in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, except, well, you know…it’s a different colour."

  
You were finding a random joy all of a sudden in speaking your mind. Now that you didn’t have to worry about seeing any of these people again, you didn’t have to fall into your routine of painful politeness.

  
The poor guy’s face was the picture of discomfort, but at least it seemed to kick his arse into gear, as he practically moved at light speed, grabbing all the items you requested, stuffing it neatly into a few large bags.  
"Will that be all?"

  
"Yup, think so...unless you can think of any other things you would need that are essential to survival?"

  
You ask this with a seriousness, so it wouldn’t be taken as a joke. The guy considers this for a while, then surprises you by saying,

  
"Well…you could pick up a few bits of make up? Um, not that you need it, personally, but...most women would say that they do…um…face wipes…oh, and shampoo, I just noticed you didn’t get any, heh..."

  
"My dear Watson, you’re a genius! I didn’t even think of getting shampoo. Is it ok if I quickly grab some of the things you mentioned and come back? Though I’ll no doubt have to ask you to go back to the stock room again..."

  
"That’s ok...and sure."

  
So you pick up your now empty basket, which would no doubt be full again, considering you needed quite a few more things. You grab your absolute favourite shampoo and conditioner, which you hadn’t been able to use in a good decade, considering it was a little pricey, (but admittedly made your hair feel like a dream), face wipes for removing make-up, and to perhaps use in an emergency if you couldn’t find enough water to wash with (and with that thought in mind, you got some dry shampoo as well), and then you wandered over to the make-up section, picking up your favourite eyeliner, eyeshadow, and few other things that caught your fancy, because hey, it’s not like you’d get the chance to treat yourself later. Make-up did seem a pointless thing, but you’d never treated yourself like this, so it was kind of nice. You also picked up a hand mirror, as you’d probably need it (if not for applying make-up, it would be useful for starting fires on a sunny day). Just as your were making your way back to the desk with your new basket of treasures, a loud cough sounded behind you. Turning, you noticed it was the woman from earlier, tapping her foot slightly, peroxide hair bouncing in a high and tight ponytail.

  
"Uh, yes?"

  
"What are you doing? You’re, like, buying up half the shop!"

  
"...and your point?"

  
"Don’t you think that’s a little selfish?!"

  
"...no? I need the stuff. This is a shop. They sell it, I buy it, rinse and repeat."

  
She gasps as if you’d slapped her, or offended her ancestors.

  
"Excuse me?! How dare you be so rude!"

  
"Haha, you wanna see rude? Take a look!"

  
With that, you hold up your carefully chosen hand mirror to her face. There’s a not-so-muffled laugh from the desk, as the clerk dips his head, and the woman turns an angry pink. With that, she turns promptly on her heel and out of the shop.

  
_Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out!_

  
You wandered back to the desk, plonking your newly filled basket back on the counter. The teen seemed to have suddenly changed his demeanour, his sleepy eyes filled with admiration, a happy smirk on his features – it seemed that you’d made his day. As he rushed about again, gathering the rest of your things, you thought to yourself that perhaps you’d misjudged him a little; perhaps he was just the same as the old you, trapped in this seemingly endless cycle of rudeness, and lack of humour. You hoped that one day he would be able to escape, and hopefully in a less...dramatic way than what you had chosen. Sure, you could admit that – it was more than a little drastic. You were cutting yourself off from the rest of the world, as no one would ever come to look for you, given the horrific superstition. But you were ok with that, it worked for you – you were going to be somewhere you’d always wanted to be, and that was enough for you, after everything.

  
He grins as he finally finishes packing up.

  
"That’s everything...look, I know you probably think this is weird, but…that was so cool what you did, back there. Those kind of people really piss…really annoy me. So thanks."

  
You pause, kind of touched that he’d even bothered to say that.

  
"Thanks, kid. Uh, listen, just…don’t stand for it. Do what you can to make yourself happy, no matter what happens, ok? And...you know what, fuck it, here."

  
You more or less empty your purse into his hands – it wasn’t like you were going to need it.

  
"Oh, uh, what -"

  
"Listen, I know you’re probably working this job for pocket change. That’s a good 200, there – not much, but it might help. Just get out of this shit hole when you can, m’kay?"

  
The teen looks up at you with actual tears, and laughs out a shaky affirmative.

  
"I’m paying for the rest by card."

  
You pay, and pick up your bags, giving him a friendly wave as you exit. You really hoped he wouldn’t end up like the rest of them – either a mindless drone, or a stuck up annoyance. You hoped he could fight, and keep some kind of determination.

  
Next stop, you think to yourself, as your approach what you had internally dubbed ‘The Survival Store’ - a place filled with everything and anything you would need for camping and the like.

  
You push at the door, getting a little caught up given how many bags you have, the annoying bell tone ringing through the store. The occupants all turn to stare at you – one, given the fact that you really do have quite the number of bags, and two, given the fact that you were female, and looking at the shock on their faces, females couldn’t possibly go camping.

  
Ignoring the rude stares, you plonk your things in the corner (if they could be rude, you could be rude too), stretching slightly, letting all your joints pop and crack, something you hadn’t had the opportunity to do today. You admitted, it was a bad habit, but it made all your muscles relax, and it was usually the only way you could get to sleep at night – well, ok, having your thoughts shut up for once also helped, but no amount of cracking was going to help with that. Noticing nearby patrons wincing at your spine sounding like a firecracker cheered you up, though.

  
Ok, now to business. New backpack – bigger the better, as you did have the unholy mother load of stuff to pack. Hell, even your old bag will fit in it, along with everything else. Flash light…it’s gonna probably get dark, given the amount of trees…oh man, that’s cool, you can get one that straps to your head – you grab that one, feeling stupidly accomplished at your find. Next is a pop-up tent; obviously quick to put up, and the perfect amount of room for both you, and your new bag. If you couldn’t find some kind of shelter, it would be wonderfully essential. A thermal sleeping bag, deliciously squishy roll matt, and soft camping pillows – all able to roll up together in a neat package, perfect for easy storage. A water bottle that also filtered and purified water, which also had a neat rain water collecting funnel, so you at least wouldn’t be without water. A decent multi-tooled knife, which you would have endless uses for – from whittling useful items, to gathering. One of those cool ropes that doubled as a bracelet for easy access – who knew when that would come in useful on the mountain, but you’re sure that it would. And lastly a compass. Because they looked cool and stuff.

  
Piling all your finds on top of each other in a precarious tower, you headed to what you believed was the direction of the desk, trying not to bump into anything or anyone along the way. As you waddled along, you noticed the palpable silence around you, as your fellow costumers stared at you. You didn’t really know what their problem was, and you didn’t really care – you had things to buy.

  
You shove your stuff onto the desk, shining your smile (you were pretty sure it was permanent now – so much easier to smile…who was it who said it uses less muscles?) at the grumpy looking attendant.

  
"Hey there! Uh, looking to buy...all of this…?"

  
"And why is that, girlie?"

  
"...for camping? Why else?"

  
"And why would a chick like you be going camping?"

  
You feel your smile grow a little wider, feel your frame becoming a little more relaxed, even though the urge to punch this sexist prick was feeling like a really fantastic idea about now.

  
"I’m clearly going fishing, of course."

  
"...then where’s your fishing rod?"

  
"Out in my truck. With my hunting gun. And all the beef jerky you can dream of."

  
"….are you being sarcastic?"

  
"Oh _nooo_ , not at all. Still, buddy, I’d like to buy my stuff, if that’s cool?"

  
He glares, his gross looking moustache twitching – you really hope it doesn’t rain any dandruff down on your precious gear. But regardless, he tallies up your amount, not wanting to lose business, even if it is to a ‘girlie’. He rattles off the amount with a smirk, probably assuming that you didn’t have the money for such quality gear. Well, he’d be right! But since you didn’t give a damn about such things any more, you whipped your card out in a flourish, slotting it neatly into the card machine, while he visibly glowered. Gathering up your stuff, you cheerful said goodbye, before heading back to your pile of bags in the corner. And simply because you just loved to overstay your welcome – you packed up all your things neatly and efficiently, the more essential things within close reach. You hefted on your new backpack, buckling it into place. Chucking a thumbs up at the shop's staring occupants, you waltz on out, feeling quite pleased with yourself.

  
Now, to put your plan into place….it was still too light to not be noticed by passers-by as you had to scramble over that damned fence, and you needed to sacrifice something to sit on to get over the top of the fence so you wouldn’t lose a leg getting over it. Suddenly, you had a lightbulb moment. Grinning manically to yourself, you quickly turn back to the sexist camping shop…

 

 

 

...and this was how you found yourself sitting in the thickest of thick fishing coats, which of course was an attractive red tartan – oh, you’d have to form a mental portrait around the memory of the clerk’s face as he remembered your jab about fishing, only to see you buying…a fishing jacket. You chuckle to yourself.

  
You’re now sat in a classic diner, slowly chewing your tasty supper, so you’d at least have something in your stomach for tonight. Thinking about it, it had been a long time since you’d been able to eat anything this expensive – who knew working yourself into bankruptcy would be such a pleasant experience. You looked out the window, feeling the tight ball of excitement in your stomach tighten further when you could see the sun was starting to set, spreading gorgeous orange and purple flames across the sky.

  
"Miss?"

  
You turn to see the waitress, anxiously staring at you.

  
"Uh, yes?"

  
"Are you almost finished? It’s just that...uh...we close soon."

  
Suddenly you felt like the biggest dick in the world, as she was clearly worried you were going to be mad at her for asking a perfectly reasonable question. It must be the fishing jacket – kind of makes anyone look like a potentially rude idiot.

  
"Oh no, I’m so sorry! Yes, yes, I’m done, thank you so much for telling me."

  
She smiles in relief, offering you the bill. You nod that the bill’s correct, and she goes to get the card machine. You make sure to leave a ridiculously huge tip for her, hoping it would make her happy. Nice people deserved things like that, you thought, and they didn’t nearly get rewarded enough – whilst the rude people always did, it seemed.  
Having paid, you heft up your amazing bag, and head on out.

  
Now, here comes the tricky bit, you think, casually approaching the fence at the base of the mountain. There wasn’t really any other way in, apart from over this part that you’d picked – you’d walked the perimeter a million times before out of curiosity, and mentally noted that all over climbable sections were in hugely public places. This was the only quiet zone – in the local park. The park was now, obviously, dead – too late for children to be playing, and too early for the local drunks to set up on the benches. The perfect time, and only time, for you to act out your plan.

  
Taking off your ‘incredible’ jacket, and securing your backpack firmly to yourself, you place your feet in some of the holes at the bottom of the fence; and then carefully lay the coat upon the harsh spikes, thanking yourself for getting one with heavy padding. Letting out a sigh to gather yourself, you start to pull yourself up the fence, before carefully, oh so carefully, sitting upon the coat to swing your legs over to the other side.

  
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?"

  
You start, cursing yourself for not noticing the group of young men who had just entered the park, and were now hurrying over to where you were.  
Well, that was it for the careful route.

  
You leap from your perch on the top of the fence, actually landing with some grace for once (and feeling incredibly bad ass for it), before giving the group the finger, and running as fast as you could into the darkness of Mt. Ebott’s forest. You could hear them screaming for you to come back, that you didn’t know what you were doing, that it wasn’t safe. But you knew precisely what you were doing. You knew they would never follow you, so you knew there was no real need to run, but you wanted to, you wanted to…

 

 

You were free. Free, at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....or aaaarrrreeee youuuu? :o  
>  We shall see....  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got fanart? Or just want to chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	3. Darker, Yet Darker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you have an interesting dream....

You walked cautiously, dry leaves and twigs crunching under your feet, as you explored the dark forest. So far, all the trees made it far too dense to actually set up camp, so you were desperately searching for some kind of clearing. Suddenly, a branch decides to whap you in the face, stunning you enough that you fall over, straight on your ass, as you stare at the offending branch in mock anger.

"Geez! Just _leaf_ me alone. You’re not the _moss_ of me – in fact, I think you’re the _root_ of the problem!"

You laugh, the only sound echoing through the woodland. You shiver involuntarily, heaving yourself up, and pushing past the, no doubt, very offended branch. You sure showed him...or her. It was a tree….oh wait, aren’t they like your neighbours now? You’d already made yourself a… _branch_ rival in the new neighbourhood, then. You giggled like a crazy person (considering that you were alone in the forest).

But despite the occasional crazy giggle at an internal pun or stupid joke, you trudged on, weaving your way between rough bark and leaves. Happily you noticed the huge amounts of edible mushrooms, streams, and other things that would make your life here as easy as it could be, given your situation.

Though, there was something really strange….you couldn’t quite put your finger on it. Shaking your head, you put it down to being paranoid, thanks to the legends of curses and the like that you had been raised on. It made you feel pretty sad, to be honest – this place was beautiful, completely idyllic. Even in the dark, with only your neat little headlight to illuminate your surroundings, it was stunningly beautiful. If you liked nature, that is, which you did immensely; you always had done. Maybe the way you had been raised contributed to it, with the constant squalor of the orphanage followed by the equal squalor of your old shoebox…no, being in the open, breathing in sweet air….this was heaven.

Suddenly you trip and fall flat on your face, yelping as you get a mouth full of grass.

"….grass?"

You leap back up, whooping, as you realise that you’ve finally reached what you’ve been looking for – you’d been marching for hours, but you’d finally, at last, found a clearing. And it was better than what you’d hoped for – bundles of room, but just under some rock face, so it provided perfect over from the elements-

"Wait, what, rock face?"

You had walked that far? The mountain didn’t start showing any kind of rock face until near the peak! Mentally you patted yourself on the back, thinking that your endurance must have been pretty damn impressive, to barely feel the burn from such a climb. In fact, you felt oddly fantastic – as if your body had been filled with sherbet, or as if you were standing tantalisingly close to a lightning storm. You look worriedly up to the sky, just in case, but it was clearer than you’d ever seen – it was like a picture in the National Geographic, stars bright and seemingly never ending, the moon hanging like some kind of mystic orb, or a giant pearl. Unable to resist such a beautiful sight, you take out your phone, quickly snapping a picture. Of course, it would never look as beautiful, but even a shadow of such a view was worth having. Again, you smirked to yourself, pleased with your purchase – a solar charger for both your phone and iPod was a fantastic idea. Well done you, y/n.

Looking back at the mighty rock face, you had to admit you were a little curious. Would you be able to stand right at the very top of Mt. Ebott? You could only imagine the view from there, it would be breathtaking.

Sighing happily to yourself, you start to unpack for the night – even though this would most likely become your base of operation, you still wanted to scope out the area tomorrow, to check for the closest water source and the like (and maybe climb the mountain – if you were going to, you just _had_ to erect a flag; you doubted anyone would see it, given the stigma, but you would know it was there, and personal happiness mattered to you, given that you had only thus far began to taste it).

So you only pulled out what you would need for tonight – your trusty, comfiest hoodie (it wasn’t all that cold, but you were sure it was bound to get cold the later it got), your new tent and sleeping gear, and stuff to wash your face and teeth. With that out and ready, you set to business – hurriedly brushing your teeth, and wiping any muck off your face (hey, you did fall face first into the grass), you allowed your excitement to finally get the best of you. With a squeak, you pulled your tent out of the packet, and threw it into the air, where it snapped open, and -

\- fell on the ground upside down.

"Well, you _almost_ did it, tent. If you stuck the landing, that would have been expert parkour."

Putting it up the right way, and happily noting the generous size, you unfold the sleeping mat, and lay out the pillows and sleeping bag, making a cosy little nest for yourself.

Cracking your neck from side to side, and twisting your back at awkward angles to do the same to it, you loosen up, getting ready for a no doubt much comfier sleep than the ones you’d had at the shoebox. You set your back pack in the corner, where your feet would be, and crawled into your den, before zipping up the entrance.

And with that, you climbed into your sleeping bag, snuggling into the squishy softness of it and the pillows, getting comfy. Your eyes slowly flutter shut, and you fall into a deep, relaxing sleep, the sound of the wind softly blowing against your tent – you were suddenly so tired…

 

...you didn’t realise what was missing.

 

 

_You were floating in darkness…getting darker…yet darker…._

" _ ~~y/n? Are you there? Please, please hear me!~~ "_

" _Huh? I’m sorry, I can’t understand you…wait, where am I?"_

_You heard a sigh, warbled and confusing. Did it sound like static? TV static? White noise? You couldn’t quite figure it out, but it made your head feel odd, light and fuzzy._

" _ ~~Please, please~~ understand. You’re in danger – ~~the demon has noticed you. She~~ knows."_

_The voice was kind, intelligent, even if it was still garbled in parts._

" _I’m so sorry, I can’t quite understand yet – I’m in danger? And...someone knows? Knows what?"_

_The voice gasps, seemingly in excitement, rattling off a load of odd words at high speed._

" _Whoa, whoa buddy – slow down there! I’m only getting bits and pieces. Uh, just...gosh, I wish I could see you."_

_And it was like you’d said the magic words or something, because suddenly a face emerged from the black...you clawed your way towards it, before feeling yourself gasp a little._

_That wasn’t a human face._

_You supposed the closest you’d describe it to would be a skeleton – a melted one? There was a heavy crack running up from one of the eye sockets, and another on the other side of the being’s face, running down from the other eye, to the mouth. Within the empty sockets, little lights seemed to shine, appearing to serve as pupils. The being’s...skin…was stark white. But the eyes and mouth seemed...melted. Or melting. They seemed to have that delicate state that ice cream had on a hot day._

_The being looked just as surprised to see you as you were to see it – it almost looked ashamed to be seen. It’s hands went up to cover the face (you were right! The hands resembled a skeleton’s – but more like hands with skin? You couldn’t quite describe it), which you quickly try to stop, reaching out._

" _Please, no, it’s ok! Don’t worry, I’m...not scared, or anything. I’m sorry."_

_The being quirks a brow (at least, you thought it was a brow), giving you a polite smile._

" _I_ _t’s quite alright, ~~my dear~~. I was just surprised. It’s been ~~a long~~ time since I’ve spoken to ~~anyone.~~ "_

_You smile to yourself, happy that you seem to be able to understand more and more of this person’s words._

" _What’s your name...sir?"_

_It was a masculine voice, so you hoped you’d made the right assumption._

" _ ~~...Gaster, y/n~~."_

" _Oh, I’m sorry, please, try again."_

" _...Gaster. WingDings Gaster. I’m sorry, I’ll try to speak slower."_

_He let out one word at a time, clearly trying to enunciate everything as clearly as he could. You smiled, really appreciating that he was trying, wishing you could do more to help._

" _It’s nice to meet you, Gaster. I’m y/n…wait, is your name a font?"_

_He laughs, the sound being so involuntary it falls back into the static category, but you recognise it as a laugh all the same, and chuckle as well, feeling yourself blush in embarrassment._

" _Yes, heh, I suppose that would be how your kind would recognise it. It’s lovely to meet you too, though I already knew your name."_

_You feel surprised by this, but you guessed that it shouldn’t really be all that surprising, since you’d already gathered that you were dreaming._

" _How? Have we met before?"_

" _I heard you cheering you name when you found the clearing."_

_A shiver ran up your spine – how odd for a dream to pull in something so...real._

" _Oh, um...anyway, you were trying to warn me?"_

_His face seems to become more serious._

" _Yes. Y/n, you must leave. There is a demon here, it’s going to attack you, and take your soul."_

" _Whooa there Gaster, that’s kinda..."_

" _I_ _know, far fetched. But is it quite as far fetched as speaking to a monster in your sleep?"_

_He smiles softly, looking sadly wistful. You back-pedal, not wanting to offend this kind being._

" _Oh no, I was just...shocked? It’s not everyday you hear of demons and soul stealing and...wait, you’re a monster?"_

_He chuckles softly._

" _Yes, my dear, a monster. But listen, I know, it’s going to sound odd, but you must remember this, it will be the only way to keep yourself safe – if the demon were to get a soul like yours, the world would perish. The mountain, you remember the mountain?"_

" _...yes, Mt. Ebott. I climbed it for a better life. A happier one."_

_He looks sad at this, gently patting your shoulder with one of his melted hands – which you can’t exactly feel, but...again, it was like touching static...but you did appreciate his kindness._

" _The rock face, dear one. It has a cave. You must go to the cave, it is the only place you will be safe, understand? Hide there until the sun is high in the sky, and go back to Ebott, y/n."_

" _No! I can’t...I can’t. I...I have nowhere else to go."_

_Gaster sighs, looking so worried, so concerned._

" _...then would the cave be a suitable place for you to live?"_

" _Oh, without a doubt! It sounds lovely."_

_He looks more than a little shocked at this, his face caught between laughter, and worry, as it seemed he wasn’t quite sure if you were joking. You were not, but he probably didn’t know this._

" _So...where are we, anyway, Gaster?"_

_His face shifts into such despair you can feel tears creep into the corners of your eyes._

" _We are in the Void, y/n. It is a place between time and space..."_

" _...the Void? Wait, how did I even get…how are you here?"_

" _...I have no idea how you came to be here, my dear, but you must be a very powerful being to have found yourself here – it is a very dangerous place, a place most get lost in."_

_You shudder._

" _And I...am trapped here. I made a foolish mistake, and now I cannot leave."_

_It’s obvious by now he is crying, and you hug him. It’s not fair...how can a being so kind be trapped in such a dark place?...darker...yet darker…_

" _Y/N!"_

" _...huh?"_

_Gaster is shaking you, looking alarmed. Seeing you respond, he seems relieved, but still alarmed._

" _Y/n, the Void is trying to consume you, you cannot linger here! Not for long. You will..."_

" _Gaster, it’s ok, I’m ok, stop."_

_He takes a breath, before he stares into your face, light pinpricks meeting your own pupils._

" _Y/n. You need to wake up soon. But I’m sure I will see you again, if you stay on Mt. Ebott, so do not fret. But please, please, stay safe. Only emerge from the cave when the sun is high in the sky. Remember that."_

" _I_ _will, but...Gaster, can’t I help you escape? Can’t I help you?"_

_He smiles a sad, sad smile._

" _My dear...I’m afraid not. But thank you, it means a lot. Now, awake!"_

_You suddenly feel as if a rope has been tied around your middle, and you are yanked upward, the ghostly white face of Gaster getting smaller and smaller._

 

" _Do not forget, Y/n."_

 

 

You awake with a jolt, yelping as your head hits the roof of your tent, shaking the foundation. You look around dazedly, noting where you were, and that the sun was heating up the inside of your tent at an alarming rate – it was like a sauna!

You rip off your beloved hoodie, quickly unzipping the tent. Yup, it seemed like it was around 12pm – you hadn’t slept in this late in years! The sky was a beautiful, clear blue, and the sun high in the…

High in the sky?

The dream suddenly returns to you, and you frown, rubbing your head.

"So weird...but, a cave, huh? That would be a lot safer to sleep in, especially if it rains...if it exists, that is."

You stretch, feeling your spine and shoulders pop and snap, groaning at the pleasure of it. You quickly wash your face and teeth, in an effort to wake yourself up, and start to pack away your things – stuffing the pillows into their handy carry on bag, which you tie to the bottom of your back pack, roll up your sleeping bag and roll matt, and gently and neatly placing them in their assorted places with your backpack, and then finally taking down your tent, and packing that away too. You quickly change into a baggy black t-shirt that you didn’t really care about (but it was comfy), and a pair of grubby jeans (grubby due to the amount of paint splattered on them; back when you had the stupid idea that the people of Ebott would appreciate artwork). Shrugging the back pack back onto your shoulders, you wriggle it into place, almost jogging on the spot, knowing that this would wake you up further.

Yawning, you make your way over to the rock face, looking up, noticing how much further up it went – ha, how could you have ever thought that you would be able to climb this thing? You would need a lot more rope that the one in your bracelet, that was for sure.

You gently touch the rock’s surface, then press your cheek to it with a happy sigh, pleased that it was so cool and smooth, a lovely relief from the sun and sauna tent.

You make your way along it, looking for any openings, and cracks, anything…

Just as your were losing hope, thinking to yourself that what you had was just a stupidly vivid dream, you noticed a darker shadow in front of you, almost as if the rock dipped in on itself. Excitement filled you, and you hurried your footsteps to the shadow, hoping that you would see…

A cave. It was a cave.

You whoop in victory, punching the air with happiness, before clicking on your head torch and stepping into the cool entrance. It was then that you noticed, at last, what had bothered you so much about the forest last night while you were walking, and what tickled the edge of your mind before you fell asleep – the forest outside of the cave was silent, not a bird or cricket to be heard. You shudder, eagerly heading into the safe depths.

The space of the cave was huge, seeming to stretch deep into Mt. Ebott. You shrug to yourself, happy to explore and discover your new home’s secrets – like where your bedroom would be, etcetera.

You walk in, your feet making a pleasant tapping noise as you step upon the smooth stone, as you mentally note all the nooks and crannies that you found – which places would be good to place this, which place would be good to craft this in...your thoughts stretched on and on, excited at the possibilities of the place.

It was then that you noticed something strange; you stepped on something. Looking down curiously, you see to your shock a large rope of ivy, growing out of a crack in the rock, and seeming to stretch further into the darkness. Curious, you follow it, noting that more and more ropes joined the first, almost becoming like a carpet underfoot, until you reached…

"Whoa. Holy shit."

It was a hole, enormous and seemingly bottomless, almost sucking the ivy into it, or appearing to.

You step a little closer to the edge, trying to peer down into the depths, but seeing nothing, no matter how much to turned up the brightness of your torch. _Huh._

You wondered how far down it went, and what lay at the bottom – something deeper than the cave you were already in? It was fascinating. Perhaps there would be a stream or something down there? Maybe you could use it as a well? Maybe a family of cute bats lived down there, and they would come up to visit you at night – you wouldn’t mind their company, in fact, you would relish it. Your mind ran with the possibilities. Shrugging your shoulders against the backpack, you pondered where you should set up your ‘boudoir’ - as cool as the hole was, you didn’t want to sleep too near the edge, as you doubted that you would survive the fall, even if there was water at the bottom.

_Oh!_

Suddenly yet more excitement filled you, as you realised you could at least do something to find out some secrets of the hole – if you threw down a stone, you would be able to hear if there was water, or stone, or how far it went… _oh, this was going to be so cool._

You quickly turn and grab a few stray pebbles, coming back to the edge with them gathered in your arms.

"Okay, hole, time to reveal your secrets!"

You cautiously throw the first of three in, listening out, eagerly.

 

There is no sound, at all.

 

Just as you were going to give up and chuck in the second, you hear a soft, and very dull, thud. You frowned...this wasn’t the sound of water, or of stone. What on earth was down there? Whatever it was, it was a crazy depth, as it almost took a full 5 minutes for the stone to make any noise at all.

You chuck in your second rock, this time with some proper force behind it, in the hopes it would fall slightly faster, and make a louder noise.

You wait again, almost holding your breath so the silence would be more absolute, so you would be able to concentrate more.

Again, the soft, dull thud echoes up, but to your shock, you hear a soft, and very, very human noise of pain.

"Oh my god!"

You leap to your feet, in instant panic, your heart hammering away in your chest.

"Hello? Hello! Is anyone down there? Are you ok?"

 

Silence.

 

You frown – could you have perhaps imagined it? It could have been some kind of weird echo, but it could swear that it sounded so real…perhaps you were already becoming a crazy hermit, and you feel yourself chuckling nervously.

Settling yourself cross legged, right on the edge of the hole, you stare curiously down into the depths, listening intently. Nope, still nothing – if silence had a noise, it was yelling pretty damn loud, as you couldn’t hear a single peep from the hole.

Shrugging to yourself, you ready your last stone, attempting to gather as much strength as you could into your next throw, eager to see if that strange noise could in fact be explained. But in your excitement, you must have forgot how dangerously close you were to the edge.

 

How much force you were putting into your throw.

 

How much you wobbled as you swung your arm back and upward, readying your stone.

 

Yes, you must have forgot. But it was too late now.

 

You felt your body shift, and you panicked, scrabbling for something to hold onto, anything to save you.

 

But there was nothing.

 

So down, down, down, you fell. Into the hole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUNNNNN  
> To be honest, it was silly of you to sit so close to the edge, Reader-chan. ;)
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got fanart? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	4. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you make a new friend! :D

With a desperate screech you throw your body to the side, in an effort to grab a rope vine, you’re so sure that you saw them flowing down into the hole, but your only reward for such an effort was a few of your fingernails snapping clean off your fingertips, blood flying upward as your sacrifice did nothing to slow your downward directory.

You can’t even scream, at the pain, or the fact your were falling – not a sound left your lips, your body was frozen up with shock, as wind whistled around your face, whipping your hair into your eyes, which were streaming with tears from either the fear or the sheer force of pressure. It wasn’t as if you would be able to see all that much, in any case; what little your head torch revealed was moving by at such a pace, you wouldn’t have been able to make any details, anyway.

Suddenly, the wind stopped. You thought to yourself that surely you must have died, because you hadn’t felt yourself hit the ground, so it was impossible that you’d stopped – no, you realised, you hadn’t stopped, but for some inexplicable reason, you had...slowed down?

You looked around yourself with a new kind of shock, trying to see what had stopped your downward spiral – but there was nothing. You were hanging in mid-air, it seemed, like the join you see between water and oil, as if you were fighting the very fabric of space time. It was then that you noticed colours around you, softly at first, but growing in vibrancy, brilliant against the darkness of the hole; every colour, like a prism viewed on a sunny day.

You assumed this must be some kind of hallucination, caused from the extreme shock, or fear...or maybe you were already dead, and this is what people truly saw when it happened. Well, even if it was the latter, you couldn’t complain – there were worse things that falling softly through beautiful colours you’d usually see in a tiny refraction of light.

Now that you were starting to calm down a little, you winced, looking down at your ruined hand; it seemed you had also broken three of your fingers, as well as making your nails a gory mess. You hummed, trying not to move them – though it was more than likely when you finally did hit the bottom (if you hadn’t already), you were going to break a hell of a lot more than a few fingers.

But this floating business was certainly mystifying; it seemed to be lasting forever, or at least a good few minutes…could it be that the stones you had thrown had experienced the same thing, as well, if this was real? Maybe the hole wasn’t as deep as it appeared, if -

That thought was short, as a strange sensation ran its way all over your body; as if you’d been shot through with electricity, but without the associated pain, mixed with the feeling you have when you go down a particularly large drop on a roller coaster. The colours went crazy around you, no longer soothing, but fragmented and bright – you wince, at both the feeling and the bright light, the pressure in your body building, and building...until, like a champagne bottle releasing the cork, you shot back down into the depths, and this time you really did scream, having had a little break to gather your thoughts.

_So that was real?! Was that...what was that?!_

You spin, around and around, clutching what little of your hands you had left to your face, both with confusion as to what the hell had just happened, and fear.

 

Then, everything stopped, as the world seemed to explode.

 

 

… _._

…… _._

~~" _Y/n! Y/n! Wake up! Y/n!!"_~~

_You grumble to yourself, allowed your eyes to creep open, panicking when all your could see was darkness...darker...yet darker…_

~~" _Y/N!! KEEP WITH ME!"_~~

_You snap back to focus, suddenly seeing the melted bone-face of your new friend, WingDings Gaster._

" _...Gaster?"_

~~" _Yes, it’s me, y/n. Are you awake, my dear?"_~~

_You frown as his static strikes your ears, wincing away what appeared to be a headache. It appeared he was extremely worried, given the fact he had slipped back into his original odd speech, and the fact that along with the most violent of frowns he appeared to be crying._

" _Oh, no, I’m ok, Gaster! I’ve just got a headache, I’m...wait. Why am I in the void, I swear that I didn’t fall asleep..."_

_You stop to think for a moment._

" _...but I did fall. So I’m just unconscious?"_

_He nods, seeming to compose himself a little._

" _ ~~Yes, it would~~...I mean, yes, it would appear that way. I’m so sorry, y/n, I should have known that the cave would have other dangers, it should have been safe for you, but-"_

" _Gaster, calm down. Believe me, I didn’t climb this mountain with any intention that I was going to ever come down. Ever. I knew I was going to die up here, even if it was by my own stupidity – which as it happens, it probably was. So don’t. It’s not your fault, not even a little bit."_

_He sighed, pinching the bridge of what you assumed with be his nose...if he had one._

" _Alright, alright, my dear. I believe you."_

_So, in an effort to cheer him up a little -_

" _But you know…with this hole business, at least I can say that I now appreciate the gravity of the situation."_

_His face is the picture of shock for a few moments, and just when you were waiting for your customary look of hatred, you jumped as he promptly burst into aggressive laughter. You laughed along, delighted that he had (what you would call) a sense of humour. After you had both sobered up a little, he looked at you quizzically._

" _If I may ask...why are you living up here by yourself? I’d just assumed you were camping, or the like, but...what happened?"_

_You laugh awkwardly, shrugging._

" _Well, I’ve always loved Mt. Ebott…and hating living in Ebott itself. I’ll be blunt with you, Gaster – it’s horrible. There were a lot of ‘nice’ people down there, and I never really fit in. So, when I...well, I suppose I actually quit, but officially was fired from my job, and was kicked out of where I was living, I just...wanted to do something for me. I wanted to be happy."_

" _...oh, my dear, I’m so sorry."_

" _Don’t be! Believe me, this is the happiest I’ve been in...well, forever, actually. And you’re technically my first ever friend, so yeah, climbing up here was the best decision I’ve ever made...really."_

_He looks touched, smiling slightly at your words._

" _And you are the first friend I’ve had in many, many years, y/n, so I thank you for that."_

_You both share a moment of smiling at each other, before you start to feel the start of that familiar tugging._

" _It looks like I’m waking up, Gaster – I’ll see you later, ok? I promise I won’t fall down any more holes!"_

_Instead of laughing, like you’d expect that he would, he instead gained a very serious, very sad expression. And as you zoomed upward, you could have sworn you heard him say,_

 

" _No, y/n…you won’t be falling down any more holes. I can guarantee it."_

 

 

Your eyes slowly creak open, feeling as if they were weighed down with bricks. Your little head torch, bless it, was still strapped to your head, illuminating the space above you, almost making it look like there was light flowing down from above, even though it was from your head, so it was shining up…

_Get a grip, y/n. Focus! You’ll only end up making Gaster cry again if you pop up unconscious next to him._

You ponder this – who on earth was Gaster, anyway? Maybe he was some sort of weird mental reflection, your spirit animal, or whatever. You never knew that your inner thoughts could be so creative. Still, you felt bad for the guy, being trapped in the dark all the time – you hoped that one day you would be able to help him, even if he didn’t think that you would.

You groan, your throat scratchy and sore, no doubt from screaming as much as you had. You try to shift yourself a little, only to gasp in pain.

_Okay, okay, time to make a mental catalogue. What’s still in working order, here?_

Not even bothering to move your right hand that you already knew had been pulped on the way down, you twitch your toes. Ok, so far, so good. You move your way up your legs, and shockingly, both of them work fine, albeit being pretty sore. You could only imagine what colour your skin was going to be, given amount of bruises you were sure you had collected. It was going to make the bruised cheek you had acquired yesterday look like a walk in the park…well, you thought it was yesterday, anyway – you weren’t too sure how long you’d been unconscious for. You go to move your other arm, only to scream in pain, and quickly stifle yourself with a whimper, tears welling up in your eyes.

_Yup, broken, oh, definitely broken._

You were really lucky, if this was the only real damage you’d received so far. You cautiously move your head from side to side, up and down – apart from having the same soreness that your entire body seemed to possess, everything seemed in working order, so you gently, oh so gently, sat up. You look down at your broken left arm, gasping as you saw the state it was in – obviously badly broken in three places, the wrist, the middle of your forearm, and at your elbow – well, you thought that your elbow counted, anyway, as you could see the bone poking right through the skin. Not really being too alarmed at seeing your bone (after all, you had spoken to Gaster a few times now, heh), you mentally thanked the gods that it had been so warm earlier that your beloved hoodie had been saved.

"Come to think of it...my backpack..."

Your voice came out as scratchy as you expected it too, as you cast your head around, worriedly looking for your trooper of a backpack. Happily, you notice it not too far away, but you also notice something else…

"...flowers?"

You were sitting in an enormous patch of golden flowers – you couldn’t actually identify what they were; they looked like poppy sized buttercups. They were beautiful, almost ethereal, they were so golden that they almost gave off their own light – maybe they had blanketed your fall a little, as they were so huge, and seemed to cover any stone beneath you in a thick blanket. You couldn’t imagine as to why such a thing would be here, down in a dark hole, in a dark cave – surely there would be nothing to photosynthesise? Why would they even need any colour at all, thinking about it? You hummed, wondering if your earlier theory of water being down here was correct, as they clearly had to survive on something, though you didn’t feel any kind of dampness seeping through your clothing. Experimentally, you reach up with your fairly working hand, to flick off your torch, to see if any kind of light was coming in.

"Whoa..."

You had been right about their amazingly gold quality, it seemed that they did give off their own light, like tiny suns – sitting amongst them made you feel like some kind of fairy. That said, you’d never heard of bioluminescence being any kind of colour other than that strange white blue, but then...the world was a strange place, what did you know, really? You gazed at their brilliance, in awe, happy to be able to see such a thing, even if you were sitting in a broken mess at the bottom of a hole.

You carefully stand up, before almost falling down again with a jolt and a shriek of pain when you realise one of your legs couldn’t hold all that weight. Gritting your teeth, you limp your way over to your trusty backpack, taking your damn sweet time at getting your ruined hand and arm through the straps, gently jiggling your body to get it into place on your back. Though it takes you a good ten minutes, you manage the task without further injuring yourself.

"Right…*huff*...ok. Now, let’s see what’s around, and find a safe place near water where I can recover..."

You look around you, noticing that the flowers lead to a natural hallway, which you follow, slowly limping along, channelling your inner Igor. Keeping this silly idea in your head, you smile through gritted teeth, occasionally muttering a ‘yes, master’ in a nasal voice to cheer yourself. You then seem to reach the end of the corridor, and are shocked to find a doorway, the edges carved with beautiful patterns, leaves, and vines, and at the very top, a stranger etching that kind of reminded you of the triforce from Legend of Zelda (three triangles put together, though this was a little different), with...wings?

You examine it, fascinated, though not as thoroughly as you’d like to admit, as you were starting to get extremely tired, given your bruises and shuffling – you were sure you could come back to look at it another time. Still, looking at this, it seemed as if you’d stumbled upon some ancient ruins, though you’d never seen anything like this in any kind of human history – perhaps it was some undiscovered human civilisation?

It made you feel sweetly special; you were the first and probably going to be the only discoverer of this.

Touching your shoulder gently against the smooth stone of the doorway a moment to rest, peering through it, to see one of the lovely buttercups sitting alone, in what seemed to be...a patch of grass? Or moss? You couldn’t quite tell at this distance, but it was illuminating your way, so you start to shuffle towards it, hoping that when you got close, it would show where to go next, or you supposed you could turn on your torch, though it seemed a pity to ruin the natural beauty of the flowers glowing -

 

"Howdy!"

 

You yelp, jumping about a foot in the air, wincing as you jolted all of your injuries at the same time.

"Ah, uh...hello? Is anyone there?"

"Yup, sure is! Howdy!"

 

You look around, not seeing anyone, wondering if you’d perhaps hit your head a little harder than you’d previously thought.

"Hey, friend – down here!"

 

The high pitched, child like voice calls down from at your feet. You look down in confusion, seeing only the buttercup – which then suddenly moves, looking up at you with a smiling face.

 

"HOLY SHIT!"

 

You fall flat on your ass, making the poor flower jump.

"Oh, oh, uh, gosh, I’m so so sorry, I’ve just, uh, _what_..."

The flower smirks, appearing to be amused by your confusion.

"I’m Flowey, Flowey the Flower! What’s your name?"

"I’m, uh…y/n. My name’s y/n."

You shake your head dazedly. Maybe the flowers you landed in had something akin to LSD in them? Or you really had smacked your head harder than you thought. Still, talking flowers...well, you did fall down a hole, maybe you landed in Wonderland? You scoffed to yourself, earning a confused look from Flowey.

"Oh, um, sorry, I’ve just...never met a talking flower? I’m so sorry, that’s probably rude, huh..."

You chuckle awkwardly, noticing a slight twitch in Flowey’s expression, one that looks a little like annoyance, before it quickly switched back into the cute smile.

"Hmm….You’re new to the Underground, aren’t cha?"

"Is that where we are? I mean, I know we’re underground, but -"

"Golly, you must be so confused!"

You frown a little, slightly offended that Flowey had cut you off, though you could understand that you had been waffling in your shock. Still, rude.

"Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do."

Flowey winks, sticking out a tongue slightly, basically the living embodiment of an emoji.

"Thank you, Flowey, that’s really nice of you, I could use...a ‘hand’!"

You hold up your warped hand, with a weak chuckle, and Flowey pulls a shocked and disgusted face.

"Ew, what did you do, that’s so _gro_ – it looks so painful! Poor you!"

Huh, you could have sworn that you were just an inch away from being called gross; not that you were offended, it was pretty true.

"Well, it seems the fall down here hurt me quite a bit. I’m probably gonna need to find somewhere safe to recover, or something..."

Flowey seems to perk up at this.

"Oh! Don’t worry, gosh, I have the perfect idea to make you feel better!"

"...oh, really? Well, that’s good to hear."

You had a weird feeling about this flower – as friendly as it seemed, there was something slightly off-putting about it…though you couldn’t be sure if you were just unused to talking to a flower.

"Yup! Certainly is! Now, this is gonna feel a little weird, so please -"

"Wait! What are you going to do?"

Flowey looks up at you slightly impatiently, the smile looking a little strained.

"I need to take out your soul."

You panic, remember Gaster warning you about some demon, which Flowey sees, quickly waving a little leafed vine in a soothing manner.

"Hey, don’t you worry, y/n! It’s a-okay. Taking souls out for a little time to heal and stuff is ok, and super normal down here – I won’t hurt you, I promise. You’ll just feel a tiny tugging, I promise – you’ll even be able to see what your soul looks like!"

You ponder at this, fascinated despite yourself.

"Wait...you can see your own soul?"

Flowey perks up at this, seemingly relieved that you stopped panicking.

"Sure can! Will you let me heal you?"

Thinking this over for a while, you hesitantly nod. After all, Gaster had said that you would be safe in the cave, out of the forest – so maybe that was where the demon was? You hoped so.

"Ready? Here we go!"

You feel an odd little tug at your chest, and gasp slightly, it almost felt as if you were a bath and someone had just pulled the plug.

"There we go – huh? That’s...not....normal."

Before you can even look down at the bright light at your chest, it vanished back in.

"Hey, aw, I didn’t even get to see."

Flowey looks a strange mixture of worried, surprised, miffed and afraid, looking at your chest where the light came from.

"Uh...Flowey? What’s wrong?"

"Oh, um, well…oh golly, this is awkward, tee-hee...it seems your soul is a little weird! I think I’ll leave it inside for the moment. But don’t worry! I can still make you feel a bit better!"

You breath in a sigh of relief – you supposed your earlier worries were just paranoia, after all. Flowey hadn’t even tried to hurt you, and was even still trying to help.

"Ok, what do we need to do?"

"Well, y/n, it seems your HP is down a little!"

"….my HP?"

"Yup! It stands for health points. Your soul starts off weak, with very little HP, but it can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV!"

You inwardly scoff; Flowey was describing video game logic. Luckily the little flower didn’t seem to notice your amusement, still explaining the ‘stats’.

"What does LV stand for? Well, love, of course!"

_Aww._

"Love will make you feel better! You want some love, don’t you? Don’t worry, y/n! I’ll share some with you!"

"Aw, thank you, that’s really sweet of you."

Flowey smiles, before a crowd of tiny white seeds appear around his head, shaking a little in the air - almost as if they were vibrating.

"Now, down here, love is spread through...little white...’friendliness pellets’. Now, here they come!"

You sit patiently, as they wobble towards you, smiling at how sweet the little flower was. Then as one touches your foot, you scream, as if your skin had been dipped in acid, and squirm away before any of the other ‘friendliness pellets’ can touch you, glaring at Flowey, who’s face has completely changed into something terrifying, something almost demonic; the cute little eyes transformed into an almost cartoonish evil expression, the cute smile now wide, filled with almost human-like teeth.

"You brain-dead IDIOT! They were _bullets_! Ha! Down here, it’s KILL or BE KILLED!"

With that, Flowey gives the most evil of cackles, as the white attacks surround you, slowly closing in.

"Wha – wait! Someone, help me!"

The bullets wiggle closer and closer, Flowey’s evil laughter getting louder. Tears spring in your eyes, as you slowly accept that fact you were going to be killed – by an evil, demonic flower, no less.

As you ponder whether or not you should close your eyes when your doom finally comes upon you, suddenly, a miracle happened. Flowey's cackles were cut off with a high pitched screech, as a fireball flew from nowhere and smacked the annoying weed into the darkness. You heave a sigh of relief, clutching your chest, ignoring the pain from your broken fingers and ruined nails.

Suddenly you’re aware of someone standing close, and you look up to see…

 

...a giant, humanoid goat?

 

Or at least, it looked like that, though that was a very offensive way of putting it. She – well, you assumed it was a she, as it was wearing a graceful, deep purple dress – was really beautiful, in a strange way. Her fur looked really soft, more like a puppy’s fur than the coarse fur goats had. She had the most gentle of expressions, her eyes practically melting with warmth, the absolute stereotype of a caring mother. She had long ears furry ears that you saw on most goats, resting gently on her shoulders, dropping slightly as she looked down at you, and horns that sprung from the hair on top of her head. You knew, just by looking at her, she would not hurt a single hair upon your head.

 

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth...do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....yeeeeah, Flowey's such a cool new friend.  <3
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got fanart? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	5. The True Meaning of HP

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you learn a few things? >.>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated every Tuesday! :D

Toriel’s voice was so soft and soothing, the sound equivalent of falling into the softest of pillows. You huff out a breath, falling backwards onto the floor from your sitting position, knowing now that you were finally safe, with Toriel watching over you...

"Oh my! My child, you’re terribly injured! What happened to you?"

You chuckle softly – looks like Flowey hadn’t been lying about you looking gross, at the very least.

"My child? Oh, oh my, it must have been the fall…please, do hold on."

You suddenly feel a gentle warmth spreading across your body, as if you had been wrapped up in an electric blanket made of clouds – you gently inch open your eyes, only to see Toriel knelt beside you, her sweet face furrowed in concentration, her furry paws held over your chest, a soft green glow emanating from them.

"Pretty..."

You say weakly, not even noticing that you’d a spoken aloud until Toriel looked at you with a soft smile.

"Thank you, my child. It’s healing magic; it might take a little while, but it should make your injuries better, and bring your HP up a little more."

As you started to feel a little more conscious, your curiosity, as usual, got the better of you.

"Wait, magic? And, don’t you need my soul out to heal me?"

Toriel blushes slightly, which you find yourself wondering at, considering she was covered in fur.

"Oh, my child, we do not bring a soul out unless we battle, or…we are in an _intimate_ situation."

Now it’s your turn to blush, and feel slightly violated that Flowey had tried to take out your soul, even if it didn’t work. Nasty little weed.

"And I suppose humans may have lost the magic, given the years that have gone by…..but yes. Magic is an extension of one’s soul, one’s very hopes and dreams – and something very useful, as it can be used for things like cooking, cleaning, and healing, as you can see."

You smile softly, feeling more and more like your old self, highly appreciating that Toriel was not only healing you, but that she was being so patient with you, explaining everything so thoroughly – she was so kind.

The healing magic flowed like a stream of light within you, the soft green glow only relaxing and comforting you further – it was like you could actually feel Toriel’s kindness, and her wishes to make you feel better. And you supposed, thanks to her explanation, that really was the case.

She gently raises her paws, looking at you gently, a slight worried frown on her face.

"How are you feeling, my child?"

You gently sit up, and to your absolute shock, your fingers seemed to be unbroken, the fingernails that you lost back in place, as if they had never been ripped out. You excitedly look down at your mangled arm, only to see it perfectly healthy, not even a little bit of soreness to indicate the trauma it had been through.

"Wow…Toriel, that’s amazing! My arm isn’t broken any more, or anything!"

"I am so glad that you’re feeling better in yourself, my child..."

You look at her quizzically, noticing for the first time that it appeared she thought you were much younger than you were.

"Um, Toriel...I noticed you keep calling me ‘my child’? It’s just that I’m…..an adult?"

She blushes at this, looking a little mortified.

"Oh my! I’m terribly sorry! It’s just that you’re so much smaller than I am, and I’ve not seen a human in such a very long time, I’m ever so -"

"Toriel, it’s ok, really! Don’t worry about it."

She was right, though – you were not a short person, by any standard, but she towered above you; not in a terrifying way, more welcoming than anything else. It really didn’t do your urge to bury yourself in a warm hug any good.

She smiles at you, relieved.

"So...what is your name?…..and please excuse me if it’s rude to ask, but how old are you?"

"My name is y/n! It’s so lovely to meet you. Oh, and I’m 23."

"Goodness! Y/n, I’m so sorry, that must have been incredibly embarrassing."

"Oh, um, not at all! It was… _nice_ , actually."

You feel yourself flush, and look down. You’d never had anything close to a mother figure, and Toriel was more than anything you could have imagined. It was nice to be doted on for a little while, but you supposed that time was up.

You stand up, testing your formally twisted ankle to find it in perfect working order, of course – you didn’t even feel sore any more, so you assumed that your bruises had made a hasty retreat, too.

"Oh, um, Toriel, I also noticed that you mentioned you hadn’t seen a human in a long time…?"

"...oh, yes. Y/n, have you never seen or heard of monsterkind before?"

You jerk with shock, not only realising that the legends of monsters living under the mountain must have been true, but that you had in fact potentially already met a monster – your friend, WingDings Gaster. You decide not to mention him, though, as you were unsure still if he was simply a mental projection of your own.

"I’ve heard of monsters before, but up above…well, it’s like a legend, really, but a lot of people seem to still believe it."

She seems to ponder this, looking a little sad, but intrigued all the same.

"Still, y/n, you are the first human to come down here…in a very long time."

"Wait…there were others before me?"

Toriel goes silent at this, her eyes almost filling with tears – she gives a short nod, as this appears to be the only way that she can answer your question. Feeling overcome with empathy for her clear sadness, you move forward, giving her as big a hug as you can manage, gently apologising. She tightens up in shock for a moment, before hugging you back, tightly, enveloping you in her warm, soft fur.

But soon, the gentle moment passes, as she breaks away with a grateful smile, before indicating with her hand for you to follow her.

"Come, I will guide you through the ruins. This way..."

You follow her through a huge set of heavy stone doors, which she seems to push open with ease (Arnold Schwarzenegger eat your heart out), and you notice with some interest that it bears the same strange marking as before.

"Hey, Toriel – what’s that insignia, above the door? I noticed that you have it on your dress, too..."

"Oh, y/n, it is called The Delta Rune – it is a symbol of hope for monster kind. The triangles represent monsters, whilst the winged circle is an angel, that will deliver us to above."

You smile at the sweet sentiment.

"Y/n…how is above? Is it a pleasant place?"

"…no, it’s not. I climbed the mountain to escape the town. If monsterkind ever escaped the mountain…it would probably be better to make your own place in the forest, like I planned!"

You laugh gently, before noticing the slight sadness on Toriel’s face, and instantly shutting up. _Crap_! You didn’t even think! She’d been under this mountain for so long, _any_ kind of life above would probably sound -

"Y/n, I’m so sorry that you’ve suffered like this. But...I promise...you’ll be happy."

Before you can even register your shock at such kind words, words that you’d only ever come across when talking to Gaster, you gasp at the scene in front of you, the scene beyond the Delta Rune doorway.

A gorgeous flight of pristine white marble stairs, the kind that you would expect to see in the most excellent of hotels (which you’d only ever seen in movies, but you digress), with ruby red rose petals seeming to fall out of nowhere, leaving a delicious puddle of velvety softness on the ground. And within those petals, you’re sure you can see something golden shining…

"Come, y/n, just up here..."

Toriel sweeps gracefully up the stairs, which is surprising given her incredible height, but your curiosity, once again, gets the better of you.

You pad your way over to the light, gently sweeping away the petals to reveal something akin to a star, shining a brilliant gold. Almost hypnotised by the gentle light, you reach out to touch it, only for it to disappear under your fingers. You frown, wondering if you’d done something wrong, looking around – but nothing seemed out of place. Shrugging, you follow after Toriel, only slightly tripping upon the staircase as you went.

It seemed that Toriel didn’t mind your curiosity, as she was patiently waiting for you.

"Welcome to the ruins, y/n. They are full of puzzles, ancient fusions between diversions and door keys. One must solve them to move from room to room..."

She waits patiently, staring at you with eyes filled with wisdom and peace. It’s then that you notice the small square plates on the floor, which remind you a little of the old Indiana Jones movies. You cautiously put your feet on each one, and the door slides open with the sound of stone scraping against stone. Toriel looks ridiculously happy that you solved it, which you find amusing, considering it was more than a little easy.

As Toriel walks into the next room, you see a sign above the door frame, which reads: ‘ _Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both not walk the middle road._ ’

Frowning at the more than slightly ominous sign, you quickly follow behind Toriel.

And you are confronted by, oddly, a stuffed, old clothing dummy, like the ones that you see in antique shops, which Toriel standing just beside it, looking expectant.

"Uh…"

Toriel chuckles a little at the confusion on your face.

"As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you out of curiosity – however, worry not! The process is simple, if you know how. When you encounter a monster who wishes to fight, your soul will automatically sit just outside of your body, as will theirs, just enough that you can see how much HP you each have. Don’t worry – the process is completely painless, and not intimate in any way. While you’re in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation! Often, the other party will no longer wish to fight you, and will instead wish to become friends. However, in the case that they are still curious...I will come resolve the conflict, do not fret. Now, if you would, could you practise on the dummy?"

"...practise...talking to....a dummy?"

"Yes, indeed, y/n."

You sigh and shrug to yourself – you probably needed the practise, to be honest. Since you came down here, you’d spoken far more than you had in your life.

"Welp, ok then. Uh, hey there -"

You suddenly feel the slight tug feeling from earlier, when Flowey was trying to ‘help’ you, and see a bright light from your chest, but nothing else. You see a similar light emanating from the dummy.

_Holy crap! It has a soul?!_

You don’t know why you’re even surprised, to be honest – you’d already found out that monsters existed, so why was it so strange that a clothes dummy had a soul? You look at Toriel, a little unsure, but seeing her giving a thumbs up from the sidelines reassures you. You look a little more closely at the dummy, and notice little numbers gently floating above it slightly. Could these be the fabled HP points? You peer a little closer, reading: **DUMMY. HP:0**. Well, that was a little worrying – poor thing obviously had a soul, but nothing in terms of HP! Wait, if it had no HP, was it even…? You decide not to question it, instead noticing how _cute_ it was, made from worn out cotton, and noticing that it only had one eye, which gives you an idea.

"Hey, uh, mister Dummy, sir? I just wanted to say that….you're the apple of my eye!"

You wink, and receive only silence, which to be honest, you’re quite used to when you decide to bless others with your sense of humour. What you don’t expect however, is the dummy all of a sudden floating up, and up, appearing to disappear into the ceiling. However, you do notice your soul falling back into place, which means you must have won?

You look at Toriel, and notice that she is trying very hard, and failing miserably at trying to hold in laughter, her paws held to her mouth to muffle her chuckles. Grinning to yourself, you say,

"Hehe, pretty good, eh? I made it up on the _fly._ "

This seems to be the final straw, for her, as her laughter rings through the small room. You chuckle as well, happy, as it seemed you now had two people in your life who appreciated a good joke.

After both of your laughter subsides, your curiosity got the better of you again.

"Hey, Toriel? His HP was zero, which I don’t get, but – what was mine? And are souls just bright lights, or do they actually look different when you have them out? I’m sorry if that’s embarrassing to you..."

You shuffle your feet, but Toriel doesn’t seem put out by your question, not even a little – she must be getting used to more or less explaining the fundamentals of monster intimacy to you.

"Oh, well, y/n, souls only appear as bright lights when you’re in battle – as I explained before, it’s a little like a surface check, just so you can see basic things about the other person. Perfectly safe! When in a…different situation, it will become quite a different shape, and you will be able to see the colours that make up your person. Oh, and your HP will be just above your head, as it is with the opposing party – I noticed that you did not look up."

"Ah, I see…wait, colours that make up a person?! And, uh, well, I guess that I’ll just have to look up next time, heh."

"Well, a person is made up of different emotions, as you know – kindness, intelligence, and the like. These are all seen as colours when looking at a soul – your dominant personality trait is what colour your soul will be!"

"Wow…that sounds...pretty cool, actually."

"Hehe, yes, y/n, very cool indeed."

She blushes slightly briefly.

"Y/n, I do not wish for you to wait for another battle, however, so would it be ok if we enter one, so you can see your stats?"

"Thank you, Toriel, that would be really helpful!"

She smiles gently in a motherly way, before you feel that gentle tug again, seeing the shine from your chest, and from hers. It seems you’re a little better at this than before, as you can almost immediately read Toriel’s stat: **HP** **440**

... _whoa_. That was pretty high, right? It must be. However, your shock at finding out her HP is completely over-ridden by the shock on her face, and as quickly as the battle has begun, it is over.

"...y/n. I’m so sorry."

"What’s wrong, Toriel? Are you ok?"

"Yes, I’m perfectly fine, but…your HP, it’s...very low."

You shrugged.

"Well, I’m human, right? So it’s bound to be a lot lower, right?"

"Oh no, it doesn’t work like that, I’m afraid…y/n, HP is an acronym for HoPe. The more love for life you have, the higher your points. And your HP is….2. If you get hit, even once, it might seriously hurt you."

"Hey, it’s ok – I survived that fall, right? So I must be really strong!"

Toriel shakes her head, smiling a small, slightly sad smile at you.

"Physical injuries and HP injuries are quite different, y/n. A HP injury is direct damage to your soul, nothing to do with your exterior."

You shudder a little. So, having low HP was the equivalent...of having depression? Or having very little hope for life? You can only imagine what your HP was like back on the surface, considering that since coming to the mountain you’d experienced more happiness than you had ever had.

"You’ll have to be very, very careful y/n. But do not fret – I will protect you!"

She touches your arm gently, trying to comfort you and stir you out of your darker thoughts. You offer her a delicate smile, trying to cover up the inner panic you’re feeling at finding out how weak you were – and knowing that, at least for the moment, there was nothing you could do about it.

Still holding your arm gently, she leads you into the next room, which appears to be a series of tiles much like the first puzzle – though quite different, as each tile was covered in thick, incredibly sharp spikes, which were impossible to get around. You look at Toriel in panic, only for her to pat you in a caring way, before confidently stepping onto the first tile, dragging you along. You wince, expecting to experience first hand what it felt like to be impaled. Toriel, however, clearly knew this puzzle like the back of her hand, as tile after tile clicked safely under her feet, spikes disappearing as if they were never there. Before you knew it, you both had cleared the puzzle with little effort, and you huffed out a breath that you didn’t know you had been holding. Toriel deftly pats you again, this time on your head, with caring smile. She heads into the next room, allowing you to collect yourself a little, before you follow her through.

The next room appears to hold no puzzle at all – it’s a long marble hallway filled with beautiful pillars, akin to something you’d think would appear in ancient Rome, or something. You and Toriel walk side by side in silence, though not in an awkward way – a comfortable way, the kind of silence experienced when reading a good book. Abruptly she stops, with a soft gasp, which makes you turn to her in panic.

"Are you -"

"Oh my! It appears I have forgotten to do something quite important!"

"...I see?"

"Y/n, would it be alright...oh, dear..."

She appears to fret, fidgeting her paws slightly. You laugh gently, trying to reassure her, as she had been doing for you for the vast majority of the past few minutes. But in your efforts to comfort, a word you had been using in your head for her slipped out, without meaning to.

"Mum – _oh_ , um, I’m sorry, I mean..."

You trail off, as Toriel stares at you in shock.

_Oh great, y/n, well done, that’s one friendship you’ve managed to screw up forever._

"Huh?...Did you just call me...’Mum’?"

"Yes, _oh god_ , I’m so sorry -"

"Well...I suppose...would that make you happy?"

You stop in your apologetic charade.

"To call me...’mother’?"

You find yourself nodding, dumbfounded at this situation. She smiles, a smile much brighter than you’ve seen on her up until now, which finally made it clear to you – that perhaps Toriel had been craving the same thing you had; a family. You obviously didn’t know if she had one, but she was alone when she found you, and she hadn’t mentioned a soul since you’d been talking together. And even if she did have a family, she was the literal archetype of a caring mother, even with the fur and horns – maybe having another ‘child’ was something she wanted.

"Well then, call me whatever you like! Hehe, y/n, does this mean I get to call you ‘my child’, again?"

You both laugh, sharing a hug, before Toriel seems to remember her earlier urgency.

"Oh! Y/n, I meant to ask...I know you’re very...fragile..."

You wince slightly at this, but she doesn’t seem to notice, luckily.

"...but there is something that I need to do. Now, I’m going to give you this -"

She hands you what you supposed was a cell phone, but was more like a Nokia brick than anything else.

"Oh, Toriel, it’s alright, I have a phone!"

You reach into your pocket to bring it out, only to be met with a mangled mess of wires and plastic; you thanked the fates that your iPod was nice and safe, wrapped up in your backpack.

"….well, I did have a phone. I guess falling down holes aren't very healthy for them."

Toriel frowns at the mess in your hand with a sigh, patting you on the head.’

"Never mind, my child. Was there anything very important on there?"

"Well...there were pictures from the surface. To be honest, that’s the only thing on there, at all...hmm. I’ll keep it for now, you never know, I might be able to get something from it."

With that, you stuff it into a side pouch in your back pack, zipping it up. Then you gratefully take the retro Nokia from Toriel.

"Y/n, I’m going to have to go on ahead, just to finish off my business. I’ve already put my number into your phone, so do not hesitate to call me if you need to. And remember what I said, about your HP, and about battling – please be careful."

"I will, don’t worry!"

She gently gives you another hug, before detaching herself and walking away, waving goodbye.

Sighing gently to yourself, you plop your bag on the floor for a second of respite. Rolling your shoulders and neck until you feel and heard the familiar crunches and cracks, you groan in relief, the muscle pressure instantly feeling a bit more comfortable. Curiously, you look at your new phone, plonking yourself against the bag, squirming into it a little to get comfortable. It seems to only have two things on it – a phone book (where Toriel is the only contact), and a strange thing titled ‘dimensional box’.

"Huh…"

You absent-mindedly click on it, humming gently to yourself, only to stop with something akin to a squawk (very attractive) when a glowing box appears before the phone. After recovering from your momentary heart attack, you poke it, only to have you hand phase right through it, as if it were a hologram, or something. Experimenting in a bored fashion, you decide to throw a rock through it. To your shock, the rock does not come out the other side. You look around in confusion, but no, no rock to be seen. It was then that you looked down at the phone’s screen, noticing a new category, titled, ‘inventory’. Fingers shaking with excitement, you click on it, letting out an ‘eep’ of joy when the word ‘rock’ appears on screen. You click on the word, and the rock finally comes out the other side. God, you loved magic!

You look at your backpack with eager eyes. As lovely as it was, it was starting to make your back a little sore. You gently place the hologram box over your backpack, watching as it dissipated from view, and inside the little folder of inventory, it now read: ‘backpack. Multiple items within’. _Holy moly. So...I only have to carry a phone?_

This was beyond convenient! And obviously way better that your chewed up mess of wires. You cricked your neck again – at least your muscles would get some sort of a break. Standing up, you put your phone in your pocket, stretching with a groan, before shaking yourself out, and looking towards the next doorway.

 

"Alright…let’s do this!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yeeeah, I would love a phone like that. *sighs jealously*
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got fanart? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	6. Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you eat several delicious things.....you greedy thing, you. ;P

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

Continuing onward, you enter a small room with a random stone pedestal in the centre, and a bowl set on top of it, with a cheerfully yellow sticky note stuck atop.

Curious, as always, you approach and read the note, which dictates, ‘Please take one!’. Chuckling at the sweetness (heh) of it, you do as the note says, picking one up, and putting it in your pocket for later. You never were one for being greedy, so following the note’s orders were pretty simple – besides, surely someone else would want some, so it would just be mean to take all of them. Not that you’d met anyone besides Toriel, but you were sure you’d meet someone at some point.

It’s with this thought in your head, that you encounter your first monster other than Toriel, not that you realise it immediately.

Slipping into the next room, you yelp in surprise, as you almost walk into the truly biggest frog you’d ever seen – it came up to your thigh! The frog looks up at you with button eyes, frowning in that endearing way that frogs do.

"Aww, wow! Hey there buddy!"

You gasp, holding your beating heart a little more steady, while the frog regards you blankly. As you’re about to step around it, in order to leave it to whatever it is that frogs do, you feel the sudden (and now growing increasingly familiar) tug of your soul being brought forward, and you freeze as you see the shine. You look at the frog a little more, noticing the things that you’d allowed to pass you by – the three, large, black dots upon it’s chest, and oddly, a pair of eyes between the legs? You felt like an idiot – even if you hadn’t noticed the subtle differences, this frog was up to your thigh, for pete’s sake. You look for the HP level, feeling slight surprise that the text had been added to:

**FROGGIT. HP:30. LIFE IS DIFFICULT FOR THIS ENEMY.**

...Well, now you just felt bad.

Remembering what Toriel said, about what to do to resolve this, and the information about your HP, you take a breath.

"Um, you look lovely today, Froggit! I, uh, already really like frogs, but you really take the cake!"

The Froggit seems to blush, waving a webbed foot, and you feel the jolt of your soul returning. _Well, that was easy._ You crouch next to the Froggit, extending a hand. The Froggit plops on a slightly slimy foot, which you gently shake.

"It’s good to meet you! I’m y/n."

"It’s good to meet you too...I’m sorry, if I’d have known about your situation, I would have _never_..."

The Froggit’s voice comes out in an expected croak and ribbiting tone, even if it’s words confuse you a little.

"Oh, don’t worry! No harm done, eh?"

The Froggit blushes again.

"Wow, miss y/n, you’re a very nice human. Mercy is a very good quality, you know."

You chuckle; the Froggit suddenly slaps something into your hands, making you jump a little.

"Y/n, here, something small – I shall see you around. I’m sure you’ll also see my family about; I’ll tell them about you, don’t you worry."

With that, the Froggit hops away, leaving you bemused. You look into your hands, finding about 20 gold coins, all with the delta rune inscribed upon them. Monsters seemed to be so kind – well, apart from that little weed Flowey. What was his problem, anyway? You shake your head, remembering his words of ‘it’s kill or be killed’ - as if anyone you’d met would even think of such a thing.

Standing up from your crouch, your roll your shoulders with a loud crack, and gently place the pretty gold coins within a pocket. Now able to walk through the room, you notice massive cracks within the ground – luckily before you dare to step on one. You hesitantly poke at one with your foot, yelping and jumping back with it almost immediately crumbles; you look within the hole and notice that it wasn’t very deep at all, but you decide to be cautious anyway and creep around any and all cracks you can see. Just as you reach the exit and are about to heave a heavy sigh of relief, you feel a sudden tug at your soul, the light blinding you a little. You whirl around, only to see…

...a _jelly_?

Well, it looked like a jelly, anyway. Quite a large one – up to your shin, at least. Green and jiggling, in the most traditional of domed shapes. Of course, you know better by now, that this must be another monster.

**MOLDSMOL. HP:50. CURVACEOUSLY ATTRACTIVE, BUT NO BRAINS.**

Resisting the urge to laugh out loud at this, you smile and say hello. The Moldsmol stops jiggling for a second, appearing to be thinking, despite the lack of brain. All of a sudden, a white pellet, which you knew by now was an attack (thank you, Flowey), burst from the jelly that was Moldsmol, and flew towards you. Just as you were fully prepared to throw yourself to the side to avoid it, the pellet flew around you, smacking into the ground just behind you, and disappearing. You look back at the Moldsmol, which appeared to be jiggling innocently. _Huh._ It seemed as if something was up, as you remember Froggit’s words from earlier, about not knowing about your ‘situation’. You figured it must be something to do with your HP – the monsters must be seeing how low it was, and taking mercy on you. This thought fills you with such a strong emotion, you feel tears well up in your eyes, and you hurriedly wipe them away, whilst the Moldsmol jiggles in concern.

Looking up with sudden determination, you do the only thing you can think of, since it seems the Moldsmol doesn’t quite understand words.

You wiggle about, giving the Moldsmol an awkward wink.

The Moldsmol freezes, then jiggles about with such excitement for a second you worry this would be some kind of super attack, then you feel the sudden jolt of your soul getting back into place.

The Moldsmol squelches along the floor towards you, before spitting a coin at your feet, and squelching away. You take the coin, chuckling, and calling after the Moldsmol, just in case it did understand,

"I’m y/n! Nice to meet you!"

It appears to jiggle in a pleased way, before continuing onward.

You suddenly feel a buzz in your pocket, startling you, before you realise that it was your cellphone, and Toriel must be checking to see if you’re alive and well. You pick it up, cheerily saying hello.

"Oh, hello, my child. I was just wondering….which do you prefer, cinnamon, or butterscotch?"

"Um, I would have to say butterscotch, I guess!"

"....But you do not dislike cinnamon, do you?"

"Oh no, well, I like both!"

"I see, that’s good....Well, I must be off – please be safe!"

And with that she hangs up, and you ponder at her strange and sudden question, before shrugging it off. You’re sure that you would find out what it was about later.

Now able to walk into the next room, you look around, and upon seeing no one, and nothing, you enter. This room appears to be another puzzle – a line of impassable spikes, and a switch just in front of a fair sized boulder. Already predicting the solution, you push the boulder with a grunt, onto the switch. The spikes fold safely into the ground, and you again have to question these monster ‘puzzles’.

You crunch through some leaves, thinking to yourself – you supposed the monsters had to make the puzzles a little easy, or it would be hellish trying to get from place to place everyday. Though it looked like, on some level, the puzzles were difficult enough to prove as some kind of security for the monsters; it was probably put in place when humans sealed them into the mountain, just in case there was another attack.

You were glad that they wouldn’t have to serve as security any more.

There was an almost identical puzzle to solve to the last – except this time there were three rocks, instead of 1. Patiently, you push the first two, and was about to push the third, when all of a sudden it yells out at you, in a deep, booming, and strangely Texan voice.

"WHOA there, partner! Who said you could push me around?"

"Oh geez! I’m so sorry! I was just…oh, uh, could you move a little, sir?"

"Hmm? So you’re ASKIN’ me to move over?"

"Uh, yes, please, if you could."

"...Okay. Just for you, pumpkin."

Shocked at the rock...thing’s change of behaviour, you watched it shuffle forwards a little.

"Um, could you perhaps move a little more?"

"Hmm? You want me to move some more?…Alrighty, how’s this?"

The rock then proceeded to move up, away from the switch.

"Uh...wrong direction, sir."

"Hmm? That was the wrong direction?…Okay, I _think_ I got it!"

Feeling a small relief, you watch the rock shuffle onto the switch, and the spikes fold into the ground. You’re about to walk forwards, when you heard a familiar shuffle behind you, and step back just in time, as the spike shoot back up. Sighing to yourself, you call over the apparently senior rock,

"Um, I’m sorry sir, but could you perhaps stay on the switch until I’m over?"

"Hmm? You wanted me to stay there?….. _Phew_ , what a workout!"

The rock sits back on top of the switch, and the spikes disappear, once again. You hurry over, thanking the fates that your feet survived without any holes. You yell a quick goodbye and thanks over your shoulder, receiving a farewell in kind. An odd hallway leads to the next room, but you linger for a while, as you suddenly see a familiar shine, a shine you saw at the marble staircase.

A sure enough, there it is, that weird golden star, glittering on the floor like a precious jewel. Next to it is a small, old wooden table with a piece of cheese on a small china plate on top. You regard the cheese, half wondering if this was another weird type of monster. When the cheese didn’t seem to move, you cautiously move forward, and poke it. _Nope, just cheese!_ Looking around, you feel happy that no one saw your silly behaviour, and suddenly notice the tiny mouse hole in the wall. Crouching down, you see the smallest mouse you’d ever laid eyes upon, hiding inside, looking up at you with a twitching nose. Without even thinking, you grab the cheese, and place it just outside of the mouse hole.

"There you go, lil’ guy. Bon appetite!"

Happy with your good deed, you turn back to the golden star. Gently, you reach out, your finger tips brushing the star, only for it to disappear, once again.

Grumbling to yourself, disappointed that the star didn’t reveal its secrets, you straighten yourself, continuing on…and freeze, as lying upon a plush looking pile of rose petals, there appears to be...a ghost?

Well, it looks like one – not in a horror, blood and guts kind of way, but in an innocent fashion, like someone with a white bed sheet over their head. It even has very ‘drawn on’ features – a little black mouth, a black line to signify a nose, and what you assumed would be two black eyes; but it appeared that the ‘ghost’ was asleep.

Now, you didn’t like to be the one to disturb this sleeping monster, but he was sadly lying in the middle of the pathway, so you either had the option of waking him politely and asking him to move, or attempting to step over him and scaring the life (heh) out of him. The former option was probably the best, you think, as you quietly approach. It’s then that the ghost starts to let out snores – very, very fake snores.

"Um...excuse me?"

"Zzzzz."

"Haha...look, I know you’re faking being a sleep. I get it, who wants to be bothered while they’re relaxing, right?"

"Zzzzzzzz."

"Uh….buddy, I really need to get by. You can go back to chilling after, but can you please...move?"

You reach out, gently touching the ghost’s side, and all of a sudden, you feel that familiar tug, as the ghost jolts to floating horizontally. You were right – he did have black eyes, with cute cartoonish white pupils within.

**NAPSTABLOOK. HP:88. HERE COMES NAPSTABLOOK.**

Gulping nervously (as aside from Toriel, this was the highest HP you’d encountered, which must mean Napstablook was pretty strong), you put your hands out in front of you, almost trying to protect your weak soul.

"Ok, ok, I’m really sorry for bothering you, I didn’t mean to upset you, or anything."

"Oh…..oh gee…I’ve just made trouble for you....haven’t I?"

Suddenly Napstablook begins to cry, and before you can do anything to help him, the tears start to fly towards you – they were an attack! You’re caught so off guard that as you’re dodging, one of the last tears hits you. You can’t even scream, the pain is so bad. You simply crumple to the floor, desperately holding the area where your soul resided, as the light inside you flickered like a candle.

"Oh…oh no…..I’m so sorry…I didn’t look…I wish I wasn’t even here…"

Hearing that last statement, you realise that this ghost must have something akin to depression, like… _some_ people. You give him a patient smile.

"Don’t worry...*gasp*….Napstablook. It’s not *gasp * your fault."

"Oh....I’m so sorry…eating monster food...might help…but only ghosts can eat ghost food…."

You’re not really sure what that was supposed to mean, but you did know that you had that monster candy from earlier. You groggily reach into your pocket, unwrapping the candy, and placing it in your mouth as you hope for the best. You’re quite surprised to find that it almost instantly dissolves on your tongue, leaving behind a cacophony of delicious sweet flavours, a little like chocolate, a little like fresh strawberries, and a little like soft licorice. You feel better immediately, your soul regaining the usual shine, instead of a flicker.

"Wow, Napstablook, thank you! I feel much better now, don’t worry."

"That’s ok…..it wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t so useless."

You can see tears threatening to spill again, so you quickly prepare yourself, and attempt to cheer him up.

"Hey, uh, what happened when the ghost had a birthday party?"

"...I don’t know…what?"

"He had….a _spooktacular_ time!"

"Heh...heh heh…."

Feeling a bit confident that this was making him feel a little happier, you continue.

"What do ghosts do to stay safe in a car?"

"...What do they do?..."

"They put on their _sheet_ belts!"

"Heh heh...heh...you’re really funny…let me show you something…."

You wait patiently, only flinching slightly when tears formed in Napstablook’s eyes – but instead of them flying anywhere near you, they fly up, and form in the shape of a top hat on Napstablook’s head.

"I call it dapper Blook…do you like it?…."

"Yes, it’s really cool!"

"Oh gee..."

He forms a tiny smile, and you smile back, feeling the jolt of your soul returning.

"I usually come to the ruins because there’s nobody around…...but today I met somebody nice…oh, I’m rambling again. I’ll get out of your way."

With another tiny smile, he fades away in a very stereotypical ghost fashion. You let out a massive breath, peeking down at your chest, hoping there was no serious damage. Well, you felt fine, so you hoped that everything was good.

Sighing to yourself, you walk to the next room, which contained two little spider webs, which had something within them, and a sign next to them. You approach, reading, ‘Spider Bake Sale – come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders! All proceeds go to real spiders.’ _Made of spiders? For spiders? Did I read that right?!_ Well, you did know that some spiders were cannibals, but you didn’t much fancy eating any yourself. Still, these were monsters, so perhaps you were incorrect. You bend down, seeing that the first web read, ‘Spider Donuts 7g’ and that the second read, ‘Spider Cider 18g’. For a second, you wondered what ‘g’ meant, but then remembered the gold coins you had been given by the Froggit and Moldsmol – which meant that you had 21g. You take out 7g, and put them into the first web, hoping that the coins don’t damage the web; they don’t luckily, it seems monster spider webs were made of tough stuff. You sit slightly back, wondering what was going to happen next. You didn’t have to wait long, as a small army of the tiniest spiders came and picked up your coins, carrying them away inside a small hole in the wall, and coming back out with a donut, which, you had to admit despite yourself, smelled amazing.

"Aww, thank you so much."

You carefully picked up the donut while the tiny spiders waved tiny legs at you in thanks, before scuttling back into the hole in the wall. Standing up once again, you examine your purchase – it was, well, it looked like a normal, hole in the centre donut. You sniff and almost moan; it smelled amazing, just like those fresh donut stands at fairgrounds. And finally, you take a small nibble.

And no, it did not taste like a normal donut.

It was so much better than that.

Like the earlier monster candy, the donut seemed to almost melt when it touched your tongue, but it a perfectly satisfying way. The taste was amazing – vanilla, sweet sugar, a hint of cinnamon and that sweet doughy taste, but without any of the heaviness that you would expect from a normal donut.

Humming to yourself, you walk to the next room, munching happily on the incredible sweet. You wondered to yourself if you could get fat off monster food, as you lick sugar off your fingers – part of you thought it would be more than worth it. Then you suddenly found yourself wishing you’d been thinking a little less about delicious spider donuts, and a little more about where you were going, as you suddenly found yourself falling.

You land in a heap of leaves with a solid thump, groaning as you rubbed your butt, which no doubt would now contain fantastic bruises – you really wished you’d saved that donut instead of scoffing it (as it could have healed you, no doubt).

Looking about yourself, you can see that you’ve fallen into a room identical to the one above, except this room appeared to show where the holes in the room above were. Nodding to yourself, you mentally take note of the path, before groggily crawling back up to the upper floor through the hole you’d made. Gently, you walk your mental path, cheering loudly when you reach the end without gathering any more bruises – look at you, master of monster puzzles!

This is when you reach a fork in the path. Using a gold coin to dictate which you should take, you go left. It leads you to an outlook, with a view that makes you breathless and sad all at once. It appears to be a town, but it’s obvious that it has been long since empty, but not in that fascinating way that some ruins have – no, this was sad, sadness hung like a heavy cloud over the scene. You sigh, wondering what could have happened – are the monsters that you met the only ones around? You didn’t know, really – Napstablook had hinted that he wasn’t from around here, but that didn’t mean he was from some bustling monster city, if there was one. You could probably ask Toriel, when you manage to find her home. Rubbing the back of your neck in thought, you glance down, and notice something glinting in the dirt. You reach down, and oddly find a toy knife, that appeared to have been sharpened on one edge, making it more than capable of being deadly.

"What the..."

You hold the offending item at arms length, thinking that it was probably Flowey’s, or something, as only a creature like him would want to hurt someone down here. Decidedly, you fling it over the edge, and into the ruins, where it lands with a clatter – at least it wouldn’t hurt anyone over there. You turn around, and walk to the right this time, which brings you out in front of a strange but beautiful tree, completely leafless but peaceful instead of eerie. You start to approach it, before jumping as something out of the corner of your eye takes your notice – and then relax, as you realise it’s Toriel, who has her back to you, and is taking out her phone, muttering worriedly. You chuckle, also taking out yours, knowing exactly what she’s about to do.

She dials, and your phone buzzes. You pick up, holding back laughter.

"Hello, my child, are you alright? You’ve been travelling quite a while now, I’m just calling to make sure..."

"Hi, Toriel."

She seems confused by the double voice, looking at the phone as if it personally offended her, which makes you break face completely and laugh out loud, making her jump and look embarrassed.

"My child! Y/n! You duped me!"

"Certainly did! But as you can see, I’m quite alright."

She narrows her eyes at you, and walks over, placing a hand coated in healing magic on your shoulder, which instantly makes your bruises feel a million times better.

"Aww man, how’d you know I fell over?"

"A mother always knows."

These words strike something deep within you. You’d never had that before – someone just _knowing_ that you were hurt, just by looking at you. Before you’d even registered what you were doing, you had hurled your arms around her, which startled her, before she hugged you back. After a while, you broke away, smiling sheepishly, with her smiling at you in a knowing way.

"Come, y/n – let me show you your new home."

You nod happily, following her up past the tree, revealing a cute little cottage type house, with a vegetable garden out front. And by the doorway, that blasted star again. You narrow your eyes at it, determined to catch it this time.

"Y/n? What are looking at in such a ferocious manner?", Toriel laughs, shaking her head at your antics. You point at the star.

"That thing. That star thing! I don’t know if I’m not allowed to touch it, or if it’s magic, or whatever, but it just keep disappearing and...haha, I’m being silly, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be so upset by the fact I can’t touch it."

Toriel looks from where you’re pointing, and back to you, her face furrowing in confusion.

"My child...there’s nothing there. Are you sure you’re quite alright?"

You ponder this.

"Well….I did get hit in a fight thing, but I ate some monster candy and felt fine…"

Anger made her face go rigid, which made you kinda fuzzy inside that someone would care that much, but also scared the crap out of you.

"Who hurt you, y/n?"

"Oh, mum, honest, it’s fine! He didn’t mean to, he was scared. I ended up telling him jokes and we became friends."

She seems to relax a little, though she does look concerned as hell.

"Perhaps it made you quite tired, being hurt…don’t you worry, I have a place that you can rest."

With that, she walks inside, and you follow…after touching the star, and almost punching the wall in annoyance when it dissipates again. You didn’t think it was part of your imagination, and you were definitely going to catch it someday.

Stepping into the cosy house, you are met with everything you’d expect from a house having heard the word ‘comfortable’. Everything appears to be bathed in a warm light, the floor a beautiful old wood, the walls painted a sweet vanilla colour. It appears you’d stepped into a kind of porch, which had a door on each side leading into different parts of the house, and an old wooden staircase leading in a downstairs area. Toriel ushered you into the door on the left, which opened up into a living room/dining room – there was a warm and happily crackling fireplace with a comfy looking armchair and fluffy rug, and a beautiful oak dining set, complete with a vase of freshly cut flowers, the very ones that you had landed in. There was also a door at the back which you assumed led into the kitchen.

"Please, sit down and rest, y/n, I will be right back with…something."

She says this last phrase in a mysterious tone and smile, before quickly stepping into the kitchen. You stretch and crick your neck, making your body snap in various places, before pulling up a wooden dining chair and sitting down with a comfortable huffing noise. You watched the fire, listening to the comforting pops, before Toriel came back in, holding two plates, each containing what looked like a delicious, golden slice of pie. She placed one in front of you, before drawing up a chair for herself and sitting down.

"I thought I would treat you, my child. This is…butterscotch-cinnamon pie!"

You grin, knowing the question from earlier would make sense eventually.

"Thank you so much, Toriel. I’m sure that it will be lovely!"

You said that, but nothing prepared you for the amazing taste. Obviously it had the monster food quality of melting upon your tongue, but it also had the sweet, smooth flavour of pure butterscotch, with a perfect amount of spiced cinnamon, as well as other lovely things, like vanilla, and that delicate flavour that only angel delight seems to posses – as well as perfect, buttery, crumbly pastry, that any master chef would be proud of.

"Holy shit..."

Toriel laughs at your stunned expression.

"Toriel, this is _seriously_ incredible! I mean, I had a spider donut before, which I thought was the best sweet thing I’d ever had, but this…I almost want to cry, it’s so good."

"Hehe, I’m so glad that you like it, my child. I made it to welcome you here, to the Underground, you new home."

She seems to tense at these last words for some unseen reason, which you don’t understand. You place you hand on hers, trying to comfort her.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it."

She relaxes, before taking the now empty plates (given you’d practically inhaled yours), and placing them into the kitchen. This time you follow, offering to help wash up, but she shakes her head softly.

"That’s ok. Besides, at this moment I’ll just be placing them in the sink to soak – first, I must show you your room."

She beckons you to follow her, leading you through the other door in the porch (which does make you wonder what one earth is downstairs – though you’d probably find out later), and into a hallway, which had 3 doors.

"The one at the end is the bathroom, the one in the middle is mine, and this, y/n, is your room."

She leads you in, and you have to mentally pick your jaw up off the ground. There is a beautiful antique wardrobe, a little writing desk, and a huge, very cushy double bed, the bedsheets and duvet a tasteful cream with lace trimming.

"I do hope you like it. This is why I had to hurry back – this used to be….a child’s room, and you are not a child, y/n. The boxes underneath the bed are....I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them."

As delighted as you are with the room, you now feel sick to your stomach. Whilst you had been joyously (well, mostly joyously) adventuring, she had been packing away things that she couldn’t remove. She had been suffering. Had she lost a child, then? She must have. That must have been why she was so happy to be called ‘mum’ again.

You hug her, hard, burying yourself in her fur.

"I’m so sorry, Toriel. You didn’t have to do that. I’m so sorry."

"Oh, no no, my child – don’t worry. I’m a tough old monster; I can deal with this much."

You pull back to look at her, arms still around her.

"You don’t _have_ to deal with it. I’m here – I’m here to help."

This time it’s her giving you a hard hug.

"Thank you, my child. I do hope that you rest well tonight – you must be exhausted after everything that’s happened to you. We shall talk in the morning. Sleep well."

With that, she gently kisses the top of your head, before waving, gently shutting your bedroom door, and padding to her room.

You find your pjs within you bag (which was still within your phone – you don’t think you would ever get over how cool that was), change, and crawl into the bed, which almost seems to engulf you in comfort.

 

You lay your head on the pillow, almost falling asleep immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...to be honest, I'm actually thinking of trying to make this. I mean, geez, best combination ever or what? 
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got fanart? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	7. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you find a home (go figure. Obvious chapter title is obvious. ;))...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

  _You find yourself drifting through a familiar, thick darkness, and try not to think about it, knowing how it will attempt to suck you in – instead, you search for your good friend._

" _Gaster! Hey Dings, you about?"_

_He seemed to pop up with a surprised expression; you’re not sure if he was there the whole time, just unseen, or if you calling him had actually summoned him, but here he was._

" _Did you just call me ‘Dings’?"_

" _Uh…yeah? Short for WingDings? Sorry if it’s offensive, I just…"_

_He chuckles good naturedly, waving a hand, which makes you stare, as you notice a minor detail about him that you never noticed before._

" _Oh, don’t worry, y/n, a nickname is never rude, unless intended that way. I think it’s a nice endearment of our friendship, if anything."_

" _Gaster…what happened to your hands?"_

_You’d never noticed, but in the centre of his hands, there appeared to be perfect circles carved out, all the way through. He glances down at the them, chuckling at the worry on your face._

" _My dear y/n, please, this is…well…."_

_He frowns, obviously pondered how he could explain it._

" _Well…you see, I never had a wife."_

_You feel incredibly confused at this point, but decide not to say anything and allow him to elaborate._

" _As a...skeleton monster, well, we are quite the rare breed. True, monsters do not have ‘species’, but we do have different shapes, all depending on our magic type, and status."_

" _Status?"_

" _Yes – like a power level, something to describe the potency of our magic, and the power of our souls. I am, for instance, the highest level; something called a ‘boss monster’, which all tend to have quite the unique shape. Take Toriel, for instance - "  
_

_**Wait wait wait, hold the phone.** _

" _You know Toriel?!"_

_Gaster laughs loudly this time, whilst you blush in embarrassment, though you’re not entirely sure why you should be. After he has settled himself, he continues._

" _Yes, yes, I know her. I used to work for her husband, you know…but that will be a story for another time. I was explaining my hands, correct?"_

_You nod, waiting for him to continue._

" _Well, for monsters to breed, we can do it one of two ways; we can await our soul mate, and produce in the ‘natural’ fashion, or we can produce asexually, if the need arises. These holes...they are pieces of myself that became my sons."_

_He looks down at his hands, with a warm and slightly sad expression._

" _So, uh...ok, a few questions."_

" _Haha, as always, y/n. Please, do continue – a curious mind is never a bad thing."_

" _Heh, sorry Dings…firstly, soul mates? There’s such a thing? I mean, humans kind of use it as a really cheesy expression of love, but..."_

" _Oh yes, it’s quite real. Humans have perhaps become unaccustomed with the ways of the soul, but for monsters it’s always been a normal practise. There is always a person out there who matches your own soul perfectly, and your soul will know immediately, even if you yourself do not – it’s whether you have the patience to wait for such a thing…I’m guessing you have never experienced it?"_

" _Oh uh…no, never. I’ve never…had a partner, of any kind."_

_You blush a little, and feel a hard, painful feeling in your chest – you hold a hand to it, and it eventually fades, whilst Gaster looks on in worry._

" _Are you alright, y/n?"_

" _Oh, yes, I’m quite fine. So, you said you have sons?"_

_He smiles at this, looking so proud he might burst, which you have to smile at._

" _Yes, my two sons. My eldest you would get on with like a house on fire, y/n – he adores puns. He’s a little lazy, but very passionate about things, if you give him a chance. And he loves his younger brother; complete opposites, of course. My youngest is loud, and cheerful, and the most optimistic person you’ll ever meet. I…."_

_You notice with a jolt that Gaster is crying, even though his proud smile is stuck in place._

"… _.I miss them. I miss them so, so much."_

_You hug him, feeling him sob into your shoulder, and ponder what you could do._

" _Gaster, I’m so sorry, they both sound lovely. There’s got to be a way to get you out, so you can see them again, there’s just got to be..."_

_He sniffles, sighing slightly before releasing himself from the hug._

" _...I hope so, y/n. I just...we shall see, shall we not?"_

_He gives you a wobbly smile, which you return with a smile of your own, and a pat to his shoulder. He regards you for a moment, before taking on a serious tone._

" _Y/n….I would have thought you’d be terrified, having never seen monsters before, but you’ve taken this all...shockingly well. How are you? I know of...your HP level."_

_You flinch, but cover it with a smile in his direction._

" _I_ _was surprised at first, yes, but….apart from that mean little demon of a flower, everyone has been so incredibly kind. Not once on the surface have I ever experienced such kindness, so I….who cares if you all look different to humans? You’re a million times better, so why wouldn’t I want to make friends with everyone?"_

_You smile brightly, avoiding the whole HP thing, which he seems to notice, but respects that you’re probably uncomfortable, and just smiles at you._

"… _you’re a very unique person, y/n. Please remember that."_

_Before you can answer, you feel the sensation of waking up, and the upward pulling._

" _Until next time, my dear y/n. I shall be waiting…and please..."_

_You rocket upwards, listening for his last words._

 

" _Don’t tell anyone about me. Not yet."_

 

You wake within your fluffy blanket burrito of warmth, rubbing your face sleepily on the soft cream duvet, breathing in the comforting smell of clean sheets. Huffing, you give a mighty stretch, bones in your shoulders and spine crackling like dry twigs. Swinging your legs over the side of the bed, you wiggle your toes into the snug carpet, looking around at the bedroom.

Now that your were a little less tired, you were able to notice a few minute details that your room possessed. The rug that you had snuggled your feet into rested on a beautiful wooden floor, and all your furniture possessed that worn, gently loved feel, that only antique furniture could posses.

You hummed gently in the back of your throat, thinking back to your old shoebox, and pondering what you had done to deserve a person as kind as Toriel doting on you like this.

 

_Not like you deserve it…._

 

"Nope!", you utter suddenly, slapping your cheeks hard. You jump up, deciding to find the bathroom and freshen yourself up – you hadn’t had a shower or anything in a few days, and falling down a hole hadn’t really helped with your appearance. In fact, you really dreaded to think what you must look like – no wonder poor Napstablook had started crying almost immediately into your ‘conversation’; you must look like hell.

You dig around in your backpack, wondering if you should start to unpack a little, or if that would be rude, finding your essential grooming products that will hopefully make you look and feel a little more presentable. Gathering it all in your arms, you pad down to the bathroom, gasping at sudden realisation that Toriel not only has a bath, but she also has a shower. You can’t remember the last time you had access to either – you’d been using that tiny sink for years, and before that…..

You chuckle awkwardly, shrugging away the dark thought, as you still had your arms full, therefore did not have hands available for cheek slapping. You wander in, gently shutting the door with your leg (again, as no arms where available), spoilt for choice, but eventually choosing to have a shower, as you remember Toriel wanting to talk when you woke up. Speaking of Toriel, you saw that she had laid out some fluffy yellow towels for you to use, which made you smile.

Stripping off your pjs, your hurriedly brush through your hair, before leaping excitedly into the shower. You groan with absolute bliss as hot water rains down upon you, almost feeling the dirt peel its way off your skin and hair. Admittedly, you take a little longer than you would have liked, but this was no fault of your own, as there was shower singing to be had, a luxury you had not had in far too long.

Towelling yourself off, you take the time to examine your body in the mirror – and no, you were right, there was no bruising, nothing to even hint that you’d had a fall that should have been fatal.

You wriggle into your clothes (some leggings and a t-shirt so long it fitted the dress category), and exit the bathroom, taking the time to stop by your room and chuck in your bathroom things (again, you weren’t sure if leaving them out would be rude), before padding your way through the hall on your way to the living room. As you walk through, you glance curiously at the staircase, wondering why it didn’t feature in the tour, before continuing, not wanting to invade Toriel’s privacy.

You enter the living room, finding Toriel sat in the armchair by the fire, a pair of wise looking reading glasses perched upon her nose, reading a heavy looking book bound in leather.

"Good morning, Toriel."

"Good morning, my child! How did you sleep?"

"I slept amazing, thank you – honestly, better than I have in a while!"

She gives you an odd, searching look, before smiling gently, and shutting her book with a soft thump.

"Would you like some more pie for breakfast, y/n? I know it’s not very traditional, but there is a little left over."

"Oh wow, that would be wonderful."

She chuckles softly at your enthusiasm, pottering into the kitchen and bringing out another two slices of butterscotch cinnamon pie. As you both start to eat (you again groaning at the deliciousness of the pie, which makes Toriel laugh delightedly), you realise that you didn’t mind the silence – it was the gentle kind, relaxed and welcoming. You sigh happily, taking another nibble of pie.

"Are you quite alright, y/n?"

"Oh, uh, yes! I was just thinking how comfortable this place is – really warm and homely, you know?"

She smiles, appearing to be almost proud that her house could warrant such a reaction.

"Thank you so much, y/n. I really..."

She pauses, sudden tension in her paws, which makes you frown, before she continues,

"I really hope that you can be comfortable, living here?"

She looks at you with an almost broken hopeful expression, which you find a little confusing, making you laugh awkwardly.

"Well, uh, of course! I didn’t think you’d want me here, but…I’d love to..."

"Y/n! Why on earth would you think that I wouldn’t?"

She appears shocked, which you laugh at even more.

"Well, why on earth would you think that I wouldn’t want to stay?"

She chuckles a little, but her eyes take on a harsh sadness you can’t understand, which you try to help with by reaching over and patting her paw.

"...my child, you are not the first to fall."

You look up at her face in surprise.

"Though it has been a very, very long time. But every..."

She swallows down tears, and this time you hold her paw as best you can, no longer patting.

"...every child…they never stayed, y/n. Not for long. And when they leave, to transverse the rest of the Underground, to find a way out...they never come back."

She lowers her head, looking down at her paws, an expression of such pain crossing her features, you have no idea what you could do, what you say, that would help.

"….Asgore. Asgore kills them."

She shudders, and you shudder along with her. How could anyone have it in them to kill a child? The way Toriel said the name rang alarm bells within you, and looking at Toriel’s expression, you could tell she knew this person very, very well.

"....Who’s Asgore, Toriel?"

"…He is my ex-husband."

_Jesus._

"We…I left him, when he made this decision…that any human to fall the Underground would be killed, and their soul taken."

"Wha-? Why would he want their souls?!"

"…sadly, it is the only way for us to be free, y/n. The barrier holding us here requires 7 human souls to break it. Originally, we agreed that if a human were to fall, they would live in peace with us until the end of the lifespan, but…."

She looked away, her gaze becoming more and more distant, before you grabbed at her hand desperately, drawing her attention back. You knew, you knew better than anyone, that drowning in your thoughts was never a good thing.

"Thank you, my child…I understand why they left, those children. They wanted to be free, they had people to get back to…..I couldn’t save them."

She looks at you with such fear in her eyes, which then melts into such confusion when you laugh gently.

"Well, it’s lucky that I wouldn’t even think of leaving, isn’t it?"

"My child?"

"...I have no one. I’ve only ever had me, myself, and I. I have nothing on the surface that I ever want to go back to – trust me, Toriel, when I say that almost every moment I’ve spent down here has been better than my entire lifetime up on the surface. And you are everything I’ve ever dreamed of when I’ve thought of the word ‘mother’."

Toriel launches herself at you, pulling you into a tight hug, which you return.

"..so I’m safe. Don’t worry."

She pulls away, a look of such peace on her features, wiping away stray tears with her paws.

"...so does this mean that I get to unpack my backpack, officially?"

She laughs loudly, and you sheepishly join in.

"Yes, my child, you may unpack as you please."

You both go back to peacefully finishing your pie, Toriel practically glowing with happiness, which makes you more than happy, as well.

This time you help with the washing up, finding the kitchen to be cute and little (well, as little as someone of Toriel’s stature could have a kitchen), a plethora of children’s drawings stuck upon the fridge, which makes your stomach sink a little with how sad it all was. You shake yourself, getting back to reality, as Toriel excitedly tells you of the other monsters of the ruins, and how she’s sure you’ll get on well with all of them. You weren’t, of course, really sure what a ‘Whimsun’, ‘Loox’, ‘Migosp’ or a ‘Vegetoid’ were, but like her, you were sure you’d all get on well.

You head back to the living room, with Toriel regaining her chair by the fireplace, you dragging over your own so your could join her by the cosy warmth.

"So, uh, Toriel…I’m so sorry, I know it’s embarrassing, but…do you think you could tell me a little more about souls?"

She smiles at you patiently.

"Of course, my child. What would you like to know?"

"Well, uh…everything?"

You laugh awkwardly, which she chuckles at.

"I mean...well, I…when we first met, you mentioned that souls had colours? And they meant things?"

"Oh, yes. Well, there are many colours, as you know…light blue means patience, Orange bravery, green kindness…and red is determination. Obviously, there are many, many more, but as I’ve mentioned before, souls only show one colour, to signify what makes up the core of that person."

"….oh….so your colour would be green?"

She laughs lightly with a blush.

"Oh, well, thank you, my child. But no, monsters do not have colours in their souls, at a first glance – we instead show our personality through the colour of our magic. For instance, mine is..."

She holds up one paw gently, a small purple fire igniting in the centre of it, making you gasp and jump, which she snorts at.

"...heh….purple. Which means I’m a solid mix of integrity and perseverance. Of course, I have other qualities, but these are what you could call my ‘base colours’. All monster souls do however stem from kindness, hope and compassion."

"Whoa…that was awesome! So, you also said that souls have a certain shape? That they look really different than when you’re in battle?"

"Ah yes...they...hmm."

She ponders for a minute, before quickly fetching a pen and paper, and sketching something for a minute, before handing it to you.

"This is what a human soul looks like. A monster soul is the same, but upside down."

You look down, taking a breath, about to finally know what a human soul looks like…...and promptly burst out laughing.

"Oh man! Are you kidding me?"

"What, y/n? My child, what is so humorous?"

On the paper, Toriel had sketched a love heart.

You managed to stop yourself laughing, looking at the paper anew. Hmm, so if long ago, like Gaster had suggested, people were more experienced with souls and stuff, this image must have been passed down each generation, and the meaning somehow lost in translation…

"My child?"

"Oh, wow, I’m so sorry. It’s just, on the surface, we use this image….well, really freely. It basically means ‘love’ on the surface."

Toriel blushes.

"My goodness, how rude!"

You both laugh, blushing a little at the scandalous human behaviour.

"Um, this isn’t actually related to souls, but….ah, I’m so sorry if this is rude, or intruding on your privacy, but what’s down the stairs?"

Toriel thinks a little to herself, before nodding, standing up, grabbing you by the hand, and leading you out into the hall, before descending the stairs.

"Whoa, Toriel! Where’s the fire?"

She stopped for second, studying you in confusion.

"Fire, my child? The fireplace is upstairs."

"Oh, oh no, I mean….it’s a silly human saying. Meaning ‘what’s the hurry’, heh."

"I see….well, I just thought it would be easier for you to see for yourself."

With that, she continues, leading you down a solid stone hallway, your footsteps echoing on the dark and solid walls. Before long, her footsteps slow, as you reach another massive pair of stone doors, with the Delta rune etched above, as always.

"...this is the door out of the Ruins, and into the rest of the Underground."

"Oh, wow….ominous."

She chuckles, letting go of your hand, taking a breath.

"….normally, I would be...so scared of bringing a human anywhere near this, but I feel with you, I have nothing to fear."

She smiles, which you return, before you cheekily poke the door, before turning back to her with your tongue out. She has the good grace to laugh, and you can’t see even a hint of fear in her, which means that she truly must trust you.

"Thank you, Toriel. For you to trust me so much…thank you."

"Oh, my dear child, it is nothing. You may come down here whenever you like, and...if you ever hear a knock..."

You wait, expecting her to say ‘run’ or ‘stay silent’.

"….say ‘who’s there?’"

She smiles at you mischievously, before ushering a very confused you away, and back up the stairs.

The rest of the day is spent in wonderful peace, with Toriel helping you unpack your things and find homes for everything, the two of you reading by the fire (Toriel has a truly ridiculous amount of books in her home), and with you helping prepare and then consume dinner, a simple, yet very delicious, vegetable soup.

Yawning, you both start to head to your respective rooms, with Toriel stopping to give you a giant, warm hug, which you return, snuggling into her fur. She lets go, and gently kisses the top of your head.

 

"Goodnight, y/n. And….welcome home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, Gaster, why you so mysterious, eh?....also, I imagine that Toriel would be delightfully squishy. :3
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got fanart? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	8. The Tiny Froggit Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Flowey is a little shit. :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! ^-^

In the following 3 months, Toriel and the Underground quickly became more of a home than you could have dreamed of.

You spent your days doing many things. Some days would be spent with Toriel, and Toriel alone – you would read book after book, relishing in the smell of old pages. You learnt how to cook a plethora of recipes; from snail pie (which sounded disgusting, but with the amount of garlic added was actually delicious – you had to use what you could in the Underground) to the famous butterscotch cinnamon pie. If it was edible, you and Toriel perfected it, together as an unstoppable team. You would both sit by the crackling warmth of the fire of an evening, Toriel gently plaiting your hair with her soft paws, whilst you told her different things about the surface, the nice things – what the sun looked like depending on the weather, what the air smelled like after the rain, and the night sky in all it’s glory. It was times like that that you mourned the loss of your phone; so many beautiful pictures, lost.

Other days you would explore what else the Ruins had to offer. You could often be found having gentle (mostly silent, on their part) conversations with the tiny spiders who ran the bake sale, as you couldn’t quite resist the delicious pastries, and now had the joy of discovering how tasty spider cider was – nothing like human cider, not even a little. Instead, it possessed the taste you’d always dream of when biting into a fresh apple (though of course, it’s always far more disappointing); a crisp, sweet rush of refreshing sweetness, almost instantaneously quenching thirst. The spiders always seemed quite pleased to see you, waving tiny legs in greeting, and making tiny squeaks in reply to your soft words. You hoped that your custom helped their cause, whatever it was.

Spending time with Napstablook was also a high priority. You and the sweet shy ghost became pretty fast friends – you’d find yourself describing to him anything happy you could think of, be it jokes, or how the sun felt, anything and everything to raise his ‘spirits’ (heh). He would tell you about the things he cared about, in turn – he loved to make music, some of which he showed you; it was akin to a slow techno, as if someone had transformed the gentle side of ragtime jazz into electronica. All in all, you liked it a lot, which seemed to earn you the equivalent of a ghostly blush.

You also learned that your earlier hunch about his home not being in the Ruins was correct. He lived where his family business was – a snail farm? Sadly, it seemed like he was the only one who lived there, which was why he seemed to be so lonely and sad all the time…according to him, he did used to have a cousin living with him, but after they found their corporeal body, they had never come to visit…a fact that honestly irked you, and deep down you promised yourself that if you ever met them, you would give them a piece of your mind.

Often, the two of your would engage in something Napstablook would describe as ‘lying there and feeling like garbage’. Now, when you were first asked to take part, you were more than a little concerned for your friend, but decided to follow his lead, and were more than a little astounded by the result. Together, you would lie on your backs, and slowly (you assumed it must be yet another example of amazing magic) the world around you would fade away, giving the impression you were softly floating through the cosmos, seeing every flash of light, every star....it was beautiful. You honestly had no idea why Napstablook would give such a lovely thing such a depressing name, but who were you to argue, really?

Finally, you made the acquaintance of the other inhabitants – Loox (small monsters resembling cyclops), Whimsun (extremely shy and nervous monsters, looking like a humanoid bug, but with a more ghostly shape), Vegetoid (smiling, carrot shaped monsters with an obsession for making you eat your vegetables), and the Migosp (monsters that seemed mean when around company, but would immediately become friendly when alone – they liked to dance, and looked a little like a giant cockroach). It turns out that the Froggit and Moldsmol that you had encountered had informed everyone of your unique ‘situation’, so you didn’t have any more surprise battles; you did, however, have planned ones.

So it was today that you found yourself in one of these ‘training exercises’ - the monsters believed that it would help you learn how to dodge better, so you wouldn’t be in as much danger should you find yourself in a bad situation. Froggit was often your trainer, being a lot more merciful than…certain characters….

"Geez, Moldsmol! You almost got me."

You wiggle about in an aggravated fashion while you talk, as the jelly seems to understand better when you did so – otherwise, the other monsters would translate for you. You would always have some sort of a crowd for your battles; you supposed it was quite entertaining, if you were the one watching.

Moldsmol jiggled in an apologetic manner, before firing more attacks at you. You leaped and ducked, puffing a little. Your general fitness had come in leaps and bounds, unsurprisingly, with the almost daily training.

Moldsmol seemed to jiggle happily, before squelching away, a clear ‘win’, which was highlighted by the watching monsters bursting into gentle applause. You take a bow, giving a polite thanks – and that was when you all heard the scream.

Without even thinking, you take off towards it, noting that it seemed to be coming from Mr. Rock’s room ( _yes, that really is what he’s called –_ _what did you expect?_ ). The largest Froggit followed after you, along with a Loox and a Vegetoid burrowing underfoot. The Whimsun that had been in your audience ran in the opposite direction screaming, of course, but you had no doubt that he would be doing something else that would help, like running to Toriel.

As a group, you all skidded into the room, to find the smallest Froggit (he would often be found in cracks in the walls, waving at whoever walked past), in a thorny vine, belonging to none other than…

"Flowey! Let him go!"

The largest Froggit gulps in anger next to you, and you absent-mindedly pat it on the head to try to comfort it, which Flowey scoffs at.

"Urgh. You _idiot._ Making friends with weaklings like _this -",_ he shakes the tiny Froggit, making him squeak, "- isn’t going to help you get strong and fix your weird soul."

You narrowed your eyes at this.

"Ok, two things, you little _weed._ Making friends like these is going to make me stronger than you could ever dream; because they’re true friends."

The monsters around you hum happily at this, making Flowey look faintly sick.

"Aaand…trying to look at someone’s soul without their permission officially makes you a pervert."

Flowey appears to take great offense to this, opening his demonic maw to yell something at you – and while he’s distracted, you leap forwards, grabbing the thorns surrounding the tiny Froggit, wincing slightly when they cut into you, but grinning triumphantly as the tiny Froggit is released into your other hand. You quickly jump away, avoiding Flowey’s grabbing vines as he shrieks in rage, and gently hand the tiny Froggit over to the largest, who ribbits in thanks.

"Pfft, fine! It’s not like playing with that pathetic monster was any fun, anyway."

Flowey appears to sulk, crossing a pair of leaves over himself, mimicking someone crossing their arms.

"Dude, seriously, what is your problem? Why not just be friends?"

Your honest question seems to surprise him, his petals wafting as his head jerks up to look at you. A look of horrific bitterness then crosses his face, as he scowls at you.

"It’s boring. It has no point."

"...have you tried?"

Again, he looks at you with shock, before rage crosses his features.

"Stupid human! Wh-Why would I want to do that?!"

You suddenly feel the tug of your soul, signifying battle, and you prepare yourself, knowing you have a lot more experience with this now, so you might be ok….that said, you knew that Flowey would be unlikely to take mercy on you, so you were thankful that you had a spider donut saved in your pocket. You look above his head, shocked to find that you couldn’t see a single stat – it was like it was almost glitched out, the image wavering to the point it was illegible; there was also no glow whatsoever coming from Flowey, to signify the position of his soul. You didn’t know how he was hiding everything, and frankly, you didn’t want to find out, either – it was probably sinister.

"Flowey...look, I know you’re angry, I get it. But why don’t we try to talk it out?"

"Sh-Shut UP!"

Tiny seeds fly towards you, leaving you to duck and dodge, sliding around gracefully, avoiding all attacks without a scratch. Flowey seemed surprised at this, giving you an opening.

"Why were you being mean to the Froggit? What happened?"

Flowey scowls at you.

"...he surprised me. I didn’t expect him to be in that crack – it freaked me out! It was creepy and annoying how he was watching me. So…."

His face switched to that grimaced smile he’d given you when he first tried to attack you when you fell.

"... _I decided to kill him."_

You wince, and you’re pretty sure everyone behind you did, too.

"…why? Look, there’s not going to be any killing today, so...let’s just go our separate ways, ok?"

Flowey’s grin widened, making you feel a shudder inside.

"Who said that there wouldn’t be any killing, y/n?"

Another barrage of seeds flew at you, and for the most part you avoided them, until a vine attempted to trip you, putting you off – a seed buried itself within your shoulder, and you howl with pain while Flowey’s high pitched laughter echoes off the walls.

_When is Toriel going to get here?!_

You stuff part of the donut in your mouth, happy for the quick relief, knowing that you would just have to deal with slight damage for now as you needed to think of the task at hand.

"Why would you want to kill me, huh?"

"…You _idiot._ If you die, I can absorb your soul, and become all powerful!"

Huh. Absorbing souls? You’d have to ask Toriel about that one later.

"Welp, buddy, you’re not going to do that. So give it up, just walk away. Just… _leaf_ us alone, eh?"

The silence is deafening.

"…excuse me?"

"Yup. See, maybe the _root_ of all this is you being so mad, eh? So just chill out."

"...stop that."

"Aw, buddy, c’mon, don’t _flower_ at me. No need to be so _thorny._ "

By this point the monsters behind you are openly laughing, whilst Flowey’s cheeks have turned red with either anger or embarrassment, or both, you weren’t quite sure.

"...this isn’t over human."

With that, he vanishes into the ground, your soul being violently returned to your body, the monsters around you cheering. You smile at them, hurriedly eating some more of your donut to restore your HP, feeling a lot more comfortable once the sweet is consumed.

"My child!"

Toriel comes running around the corner, Whimsun at her heels, purple flames at the ready, which are quickly doused when she sees that all is well.

"It’s ok, Toriel. It was Flowey, there was….I don’t know, he was being mean to Froggit. He’s just…"

You sigh, scratching your head at his strange behaviour. Toriel sighs along with you, in a sad manner.

"Horrible creature. Why one would find pleasure in harming another? I just cannot fathom."

You hum in agreement, petting the smallest Froggit, before placing him in a nearby crack, which he seems to sigh in relief at; you give him a tiny chunk of spider donut to restore any HP he might have lost. He waves a small webbed foot at your, before scrambling further into the crack, which makes you smile happily.

"See ya later, lil’ guy. Have a nice day!"

The largest Froggit smacks a webbed foot on your leg, thanking you for your actions, before hopping away, the other monsters following likewise, leaving you alone with Toriel. She puts an arm around you, holding you close in her perfectly motherly way as you walk back home.

"Hey, Tori?"

"Yes, my dear y/n?"

"Flowey said something about…being able to absorb souls. Is something like that…possible?"

Toriel stiffens, clearly finding the subject distasteful.

"Yes….it is, sadly. When….well. Monsters and humans are quite different, as you know. A human is a combination of matter and a soul, whilst a monster is magic and a soul – when a monster….perishes, they simply...their souls shatter, and they turn to dust."

You shudder, the image making you feel faintly sick.

"Some monster’s souls persist for a while after death, though the monster needs to be incredibly powerful to do so. A human, however…their souls almost always persist."

"….you mean, forever?"

"That is not known. But for a long time, yes. And as long as a soul persists….it can be absorbed by another living creature, if that creature wills it."

You go silent, thinking about it. _What if you stay...awake, trapped in your soul?…What happens to you if you get absorbed?…how long...god, how long will I be stuck if and when I die?_

"My child, do not dwell on it."

You look up in shock, Toriel watching you with warm eyes.

"It will only make you sad, y/n. Death will eventually come to the best of us, it is the way of life."

You try to keep your thoughts a little more light, humming in agreement.

"Toriel….do monsters age differently to humans?"

"It depends on the monster, and the magic ability. For instance, monsters who have a high amount of magic do no age, not unless they choose to. Human mages, as well, used to be all but immortal."

"Then….how do they die?"

Toriel looks down at you with a sad smile.

"They simply….give up. A lot of monsters do it. One day, they fall asleep….and death soon follows."

_Like a coma. God, how sad._

"I’m sorry...this is a pretty sad conversation, huh?"

You both chuckle, hugging each other a little closer as you walk. You’re now just walking by the spider bakery (of course you wave hello, receiving happy squeaks in return), almost home. You feel oddly tired, just worn at the edges and sore, maybe from the excessive jumping, maybe from the damage you received….or maybe from Flowey’s harsh words, as you’d been surrounded by such kindness for so long, now.

"Toriel...I’m sorry, I have one more question."

"Yes, my child?"

"Flowey..."

You shifted uncomfortably, making Toriel look down at you in concern, before continuing.

"Flowey, when we first met...I think he may have taken out my soul."

Toriel actually lets out a growl, which you look up in surprise at.

"Are you sure, y/n? Ooh, I’m going to skin that little shit alive…"

You let out a shocked laugh – Toriel very rarely swears, but when she does, it is always for good reason, and it was always quite the surprise.

"I think so, but...that’s not the problem, shockingly. To be honest, I don’t think he has any social graces, so…but yeah. Toriel, he said my soul was ‘weird’, and I don’t think he was lying."

Toriel hums in concern, appearing to put her motherly rage aside for now, though you had a feeling if the little weed ever appeared near her he’d experience first hand what it felt like to be Kentucky fried.

"We shall….see what we can do when we get home, my child. For now, let’s make supper, and relax a little – I can see that HP damage you’ve been hiding."

You chuckle nervously, while Toriel smiles at you in a knowing way, before you both head inside.

After a delicious supper of large cave mushrooms and other vegetables from the garden, all cooked in garlic and other spices, and freshly baked bread (still warm and soft), Toriel sits you down in your comfy fireplace armchair, taking her usual place across from you.

You play with your hands a little nervously – you weren’t quite sure what was going to happen. What if there was something wrong with you?

 

_You already know that there is._

 

Your hands tighten reflexively, Toriel looking on with concern.

"Y/n, are you alright?"

You look up with a jolt, not realising that she had been watching your actions.

"Heh, y-yeah. I’m ok! Uh, so….what’s….what are we..."

Toriel smiles at you kindly, gently placing her paw on top of your nervous hands.

"My dear child, please, do not worry. Think of it like….a trip to a doctor. Sometimes monsters do have to get…such things checked out. It is not unusual. So, please, rest easy."

You take a breath, and try to relax a little more, worry still running rampant in your stomach, a tight little ball of scratching and squirming.

"My child, what I’m going to do is take out your soul, just to see if I can see anything on the surface. I won’t touch you, and….I’m not able to look deeper past surface level, only very special monsters can do something like that – so do not worry about me seeing any inner thoughts, or anything of the like."

You can’t help but ask questions at this point.

"Wha – wait, so you can read someone’s thoughts? Well, I mean...what ‘special’ monsters? And...is touching a soul the more...uh..."

You blush, and Toriel gives you a sympathetic smile.

"I’m sorry, y/n, this must seem quite strange to you. The majority of monsters can only ‘read’ when touching a soul – which is an intimate part, yes. Certain monsters carry a gift of reading a soul partially on sight alone; but it is a very rare trait."

"I see….will taking it out hurt?"

"Oh no, not at all – it’s the same as when you enter a battle, except you can actually see what your soul looks like. Are you ready?"

You nod, straightening your back slightly, trying not to fidget. Toriel gently places her hand just above your chest, and then makes a pulling motion – you feel the familiar tug, if not a little more forceful then usual, and see an incredible light, unlike anything you’ve seen before. The room is set alight, as if someone was shining a moonbeam through an enormous prism – lights of all colours dancing on the walls. You look down, and gasp, finally seeing what your inner most being looked like.

Your soul was a kaleidoscope of colours, mixing and changing, a constant wave of movement, composed of rainbows and every kind of colour chart imaginable; the surface gave off an iridescent sheen, like a shell. The only mar on this beautiful, jewel like object were the cracks – there seemed to be a million hair line fractures everywhere, almost like that cobwebbed effect when china gets a little too old and worn. And just like that, Toriel makes a pushing movement, and your soul is returned safely to your chest.

There is silence for a while, while you try to absorb what you just saw, what it might mean, and how you felt about it; but you could come up with nothing. Your thoughts were simply a humming blank.

"...oh, my child…"

You look up as Toriel finally breaks the silence; her face is unreadable, which makes your stomach lurch.

"..I never knew...I’m sorry."

"W-what didn’t you k-know?"

"...I knew your HP level was low, but….for a soul to crack like that...you must have been close to your soul shattering far too many times."

She looks at you with sad eyes, and your insides shudder, as you quickly answer.

"I’m fine."

"My child…"

"Really. I mean it."

You smile at her, and she sighs, gently placing her paw over your hands once more.

"Still, y/n, I can see what Flowey means, though….I don’t think it’s exactly negative, this ‘weirdness’, as he so put it….I’ve never seen anything like it, in fact."

"The cracks?"

"Oh no….my dear, you remember me telling you about soul colours?"

You nod.

"Well….souls are meant to only be one solid colour. There has never been a soul recorded like yours – souls are meant to display that person’s main traits, as a colour. Your soul...I do not know what this means."

You both sit in silence for a while again, before Toriel sighs a little with a soft smile in your direction, stands in her graceful manner, pats you gently on the head, and then walks with purpose to the kitchen. She comes back with your old favourite, butterscotch cinnamon pie, a slice for you, and a slice for herself. You smile tiredly at her as you take your slice with a nod of thanks, and you both eat in gentle silence.

Both of you feeling a little more settled (though Toriel does seem to be brooding over something), you go through your nightly routine – brushing your teeth, washing your face, tying your hair into a plait so it won’t tangle as easy, and standing ready for your nightly hug, courtesy of Toriel. She wraps you up, perhaps a little tighter than usual, before releasing you, gently kissing the top of your head, and wishing you a good night’s rest, which you return in kind.

You crawl under your plush duvet, sink in, and surprisingly drift off fast – perhaps the stress tired you out more than you thought.

 

" _Y/n?"_

_You look up at Gaster, surprised. Usually, it takes a second for him to arrive, but you’ve barely registered you’re once again in the void as he pops up. Over the last few months, you’d met with him regularly, though not every night, and not all night – it seemed you’d learnt a little in your time here, knowing how to pull yourself in and out of the void at will, which Gaster seems surprised at, obviously. But try as you might, you couldn’t bring him with you – you’d assured him that you would find something else. He believed you, of course._

" _Oh, wow, hey there G."_

"… _.honestly, y/n, more nicknames?"_

" _But of course! Nicknames are the foundation of all good friendships."_

_Gaster laughs, shaking his head a little at your antics, before turning serious once again, regarding you with his slightly glowing eyes._

" _My dear y/n….I’m so sorry, my dear. I never knew...you’d been hurt to that extent. Anytime you want to talk about it...I am here."_

_You sigh, closing your eyes a little. You didn’t want to talk about this – you didn’t want to think about it. It seems that Gaster realises your reluctance to speak, so he quietens, before moving on with another subject._

" _...your soul, however – I have never seen such a uniqueness."_

_You’d wondered if Gaster would have seen it, given the fact he always seems to be ‘hovering’ somewhere nearby. You didn’t mind, really – Gaster was a trusted friend, and you knew he would never be perverse about it (not that you really understood why it was, exactly – you supposed you would fully understand at some point). If anything, he seemed to look at the world with a more than scientific view, like a doctor._

" _A soul with more than one colour present….no, EVERY colour present….it’s an incredible thing. Does it mean that your personality is not only multi faceted, but also even in every positive quality? Or could it mean something else...maybe -"_

" _Gaster, heh, calm down. I don’t know the answers to any of this."_

_Gaster seems to snap out of his revere, a strange purple flushing his cheeks (you’d taken this as his blushing). He casts his eyes down, more than a little embarrassed._

" _Oh my, I’m so sorry, I quite lost myself in my thoughts..."_

" _It’s quite alright. I wish I knew, too…."_

_You frowned, humming a little, before allowing yourself to smile softly._

" _...it was really pretty, though."_

_Gaster smiles widely at you, gently patting you on the arm._

" _Seeing your own soul is always an experience, y/n. I’m sure we shall have answers in good time."_

_You both share a smile, and chat for a while about causal, meaningless things – how your training has improved so much, how proud he was of your battle with Flowey, both of you laughing at how you’d resolved it, and other trivialities. Before long, you feel the familiar soaring of awakening, and Gaster waves fondly as you rocket upward._

 

You awake gently, sighing to yourself. Stretching, you begin your daily routine of showering, and putting your hair up in a towel lazily before walking to the living room. To your surprise, Toriel is not sat in her normal place by the fire, reading. You walk through to the kitchen, not finding her there either. Humming unhappily to yourself, you ponder this – it was not usual for Toriel not to be up and about by this time. Perhaps she was ill? You decide that you should make breakfast alone, and then bring her some to cheer her up.

You decide to make vegetarian hash – a mix of cubed potato, tomato, peppers and red onion, all bound together with an egg and fried, seasoned with a little smoked paprika, garlic and oregano. Plating up your delicious breakfast, you start to pad through to the living room, with the intention of bringing Toriel her plate (breakfast in bed always makes someone feel better, right?), only then to start as you see Toriel walking up the staircase to that leads to the rest of the Underground. She also flinches, looking a little guilty, before sighing, and walking in.

"Good morning, my child."

"...Toriel, are you ok? I...I made you breakfast."

"...thank you so much, my child."

 You both stand for a second in silence, Toriel looking worried, obviously trying to word something, while you examine her face, trying to decipher what was worrying her. You felt so confused; earlier, you’d thought that she was sick, but obviously this had something to do with you, given her expression.

 

"...I need to speak with you, y/n. Let us…..sit, and talk about this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuuuuun :p And so, we're starting to get into the 'main plot' :o Well, actually, there's gonna be a lot to delve into, so hold onto your butts :3  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got fanart? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	9. Leaving The Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally, finally.....meet a certain famous skeleton. (man, I know - told ya it's gonna be a slow burn >:) )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You gulp nervously, wondering what Toriel had to say – what was so serious.

You set both places at the table, still a little proud of your breakfast (which smelled lovely – you were right to have used garlic, smoked paprika and oregano), whilst your hands shook with your worry. What worried you more was that Toriel could see your concern, you knew she could, she could always see if something was wrong, but she was doing nothing to still your nerves – which must mean the issue she wanted to discuss was serious.

You sit in your chair shakily, Toriel doing likewise (although a lot more gracefully than yourself). She sent you a small smile, which did little to still your stomach, which was currently practising acrobatics within you; or at least, it felt like it.

"This looks wonderful, y/n. Really, well done."

"Um, thank you….Toriel, what’s....wrong? Did I do something?..."

She looks surprised at your words.

"Oh, no! My child, you’ve done nothing wrong, I’m so sorry for worrying you….but the issue I need to discuss is very serious."

You both quieten for a beat, looking down at your plates. You can’t even bring yourself to taste it – you feel sick.

"Y/n….obviously, you know that your soul is unusual, and very…..delicate. Yesterday night, when you went to sleep...I contacted a friend, on the outside. We spoke through...the door. We do it every week, and it just so happened to be our meeting time."

You sit up, not shaking quite as much, now; this was not what you had expected. You hadn’t been anywhere near the door since Toriel had showed you it, even though she was more than happy for you to investigate down there, knowing you would be never stupid enough to leave – not only that, but the ominous nature of it creeped you out, if you had to be honest.

"I didn’t mention your soul, so don’t worry about your privacy being invaded. No, I simply asked if he could find someone who was knowledgable about souls, someone who had researched them. He told me to leave it with him overnight, and this morning….I woke up early, and waited. Eventually, he came back….and he found someone."

You sat forward in your chair, intrigued – your breakfast was now forgotten for a very different reason.

"He did? Someone who knows a lot, then?"

She nodded, smiling a tight smile, which made you worry a little more – she was obviously still treading warily about this issue; there was more that had to be said.

"Yes. She’s apparently the Royal Scientist – and….Asgore has been encouraging her to study souls more."

You feel a shudder run itself up your spine, realising that that meant he’d been getting her to look into the human souls he’d gathered; human child souls.

"So she’s quite...adept at this kind of thing. So I..."

She swallowed – you’d obviously reached the crux of this conversation.

"...I told my friend that I’d taken in a human."

"….ok."

"...please don’t worry. I made him give his word that he would never harm you, and make sure that you would never be harmed….he is a man of his word, y/n, I promise."

You nod dumbly, believing her, but still reeling from the shock a little.

"So, if you would be willing..."

She looks at you, before grasping your shoulders, making you stare at her, her eyes burning with a passion you can’t describe.

"Y/n, I would not have normally made a decision like this, but the situation has forced my hand. Would you be willing to enter the rest of the Underground, to see this person?"

You don’t know what to say – your mind is a humming blank.

"My friend would take care of you, my child, he’s assured me that he won’t let you come to any harm. And, of course, you’ll be welcome back at any time, for a rest, or otherwise. I just think..."

She breathes, her paws clutching your shoulders a little tighter.

"...I think spreading your wings a little will do you some good, too. Monsters are good people – as you know. I’m sure that you will have friends to look after you."

"Toriel….do you...not want me here?"

You barely register that you’d spoken, before hearing her sigh.

"No, my child, please do not think that...I adore having you here, you know that. But I’m so worried about the state of your soul...and..."

She looks down, a frown etched on her soft features.

"...I hear you screaming at night. I find you crying in your sleep. I just feel….the more love you experience, the happier you will be, y/n."

She looks up at you, before letting go of you gently. You slowly process what she’d told you, before groaning gently, and placing your head in your hands. This would be….a big step. The Underground was a dangerous place, as you knew, but….you had made friends with the monsters here, hadn’t you? And Toriel was adamant that you would be safe – but who was this friend? No, if Toriel trusted him, that would be more than enough for you, her judgement was sound.

"...ok. I’ll….I can do this. But, uh, one question...what it this friend called?"

She looked at you in surprise, before smiling at you proudly.

"I know this is a big choice, y/n, but I promise that it will all turn out well. Um, well, about my friend….", she looks a little sheepish, "I actually do not know his name. But he had assured me he will always have a watchful eye on you. Now, let’s try this delicious meal you’ve made..."

"Oh, Toriel, don’t worry, it’s gone cold. I’ll just have to make something else -"

"Nonsense! I have a way around this."

She winks at you, before summoning her flames, and gently reheating each plate, until it looks just as fresh and perfect as it did not too long ago.

"There. Now, let us eat, and then we shall make preparations."

With that, you both settle into comfortably settled silence, as you eat – now you really are proud of yourself, it’s really very tasty. You’d become pretty adept at cooking with ‘monster food’ in the last few months – it was more or less the same as normal cooking, except monster imbued their ingredients with ‘liquid magic’; this could be added when things were growing, like the vegetables in Toriel’s garden, or could be added while the dish was being cooked, which was usually used with meats (like the snails Toriel was so fond of). Monsters often couldn’t digest like humans could, so the liquid magic made it so food would instantaneously be converted to energy when consumed; this was why everything seemed to almost melt away deliciously whenever you ate it.

Toriel sighed gently, smiling at you before picking up both plates; you both proceed to the kitchen, to continue your daily routine of washing and drying the plates (though you must admit you felt a little sad, knowing this would no longer be a constant you could rely on). Before long, the task is finished, and Toriel turns to you, gently clapping her paws together in a business like fashion.

"Right! First things first. My child, you must pack all of your things."

"Oh, um, right."

"In your backpack, of course."

"Right then."

"And don’t forget all your bathroom things."

"Ok."

"And I shall go prepare some other things for your journey."

"...ok mum."

She stops her listing, and smiles at you, before pulling you into a hug.

"It will all be alright, y/n. Now, let us begin!"

You nod, feeling your chest puff with determination, before heading off to pack your things – all of your toiletries, your clothing, and camping things (which were already in your backpack, as you had seen no point in unpacking them). You get dressed, pondering what would be most practical. Eventually you decide on your comfiest jeans, one of your favourite shirts (‘I make horrible science puns – but only periodically’), and a pair of snug and worn black leather boots – the very boots you’d climbed up Mt. Ebott with. You smiled at the memory, pulling them on over the fluffiest socks you owned (you could always swap them out if it was hot out there; you had a feeling it was cold thanks to how it felt the last time you were in that corridor). You place your bulging backpack into your phone’s storage (you don’t think that you’ll ever get used to how cool that was), then placed you phone gently in your pocket, before stretching until your spine and shoulders cracked.

Wondering out into the hall with a sigh, you find Toriel in the living room, setting some things out on the table, which you smile at.

"Ah, my child! Have you packed everything?"

"Yup, certainly have! All packed."

She smiles happily at you, then openly laughs. You’re confused for a second, then you realise that she’s laughing at the pun on your shirt. You chuckle, then grin, as surely she knows what’s going to happen now she’s laughed at a pun in front of you.

"Hehe, I know….it’s sodium funny, right?"

It takes her a second to get it, but then she’s sent laughing again, bowing slightly to hold her sides. You grin, holding out your arms to her.

"C’mon, Tori, a hug without U is just toxic..."

She wipes tears from her eyes, still chuckling, but you can see she didn’t quite get this one.

"...cause in the periodic table, Hg is mercury? Get it?"

She lets out another bark of laughter, before accepting your hug.

"Oh, my dear child….you are going to get on well with my friend. He has a great sense of humour, too."

"Hehe, it seems that most monsters do!"

You both share a smile, before she quickly turns to the table.

"Now, y/n….I have made a butterscotch cinnamon pie..."

"Aw, Toriel!"

"Hehe, I know, no need to thank me. I also went and got some spider donuts and spider cider, I know how fond you are of those…"

"Man, I’m so glad monster food can’t make you fat, I’d be a whale by now."

She turns to you, an eyebrow raised.

"Whale, my child?"

"Oh, uh...it’s a creature that lives in the sea, it’s really big….oh and the sea is -"

"Oh, silly me, yes, I know the animal which you speak of. Very intelligent."

You gape open mouthed at her, which she frowns at.

"Y/n, it’s quite rude to leave your mouth open like that."

"Ah, I’m sorry, but! You….you were on the surface at the time of the war?"

She smiles at your reaction ruefully.

"Yes, I was. You see, y/n….monsters age quite differently to humans. Some monsters, like myself, only age when our children grow..."

You gulp, knowing you’ve unknowingly trod on traumatic ground, and hug her tight, which makes her chuckle, return the hug, and give you a soft little pat.

"Thank you, y/n. Now, I also have this…."

She holds up a jacket, which makes you grin – the last, and possibly only jacket you’d owned was probably still stuck on that stupid fence; most of the time, if you got cold, you would only be able to depend on your trusty hoodie for comfort.

But this jacket truly was lovely, and looked so comfortable – it was delightfully squishy, with the softest of soft plush insides. The hood was nicely oversized; perfect for accommodating your hair, without costing you any warmth – it was also lined cutely with faux fur. The whole jacket was an attractive blue colour, which had always been one of your favourite colours, something you were surprised Toriel had taken note of.

"Aww, mum….thank you so much."

"Hehe, you’re welcome, y/n. You’re going to need it, past the door – it will be quite cold."

You mentally high five yourself for trusting your instincts about the temperature, and bless your socks.

Gently, you place the food items within your phone, and snuggle into your new coat (Toriel was ridiculously happy that it fit perfectly), before Toriel and yourself plonk down the stairs and into the carved stone hallway. You get more and more nervous as your feet tap on the stonework; you supposed you’d become accustomed to the comfort of the Ruins, and found yourself settled somewhere for the first time in your life – leaving was a scary thing. But you also knew that Toriel was right about this, of course. And a small part of you was excited; you would meet new people, new friends, and see new things….and Toriel would always be here for you, along with the other residents of the Ruins.

You reach the door, the silence weighing down upon you. Toriel then sighs gently, before turning to you and grasping your shoulders once more.

"Now, remember, y/n – my friend will be looking out for you. You will be safe, I promise. I’ll always be a phone call away if you need advice, or….anything. And I will always be here, and you will always have your room and home waiting for you. Ok?"

You don’t know why, but you suddenly feel yourself welling up; you wipe your eyes roughly.

"...yes, ok. I’ll call you when I stop for the night, too, alright?"

She smiles, bringing me in for a hug.

"….I’ll look forward to it."

She then releases you, before smiling gently, waving goodbye, and heading back down the hallway. You turn, clenching your fists, and take a deep breath.

 

And then open the door.

 

Then you make a very attractive ‘eep’ noise, as you realise how damn cold it is. For beyond the door, is a forest, blanketed in thick snow, which was still gently falling.

"How the hell is it snowing Underground?!"

You’re not even sure why you’re bothering to question such things – after all, you’re in a world where monsters exist, who are literally made with magic; if they wanted it to snow, you’re pretty sure they would figure out how to make it snow. You grumble gently, summoning your backpack, which you dig through gently until you come across your only gloves; they’re black with skeleton hands printed on the back, a soft cotton material. Perhaps they were a little thin, but they were the only ones that you possessed. You pulled them on, sighing with the slight relief, before putting your bag away once again.

You look around; it appeared the forest was something akin to pine, and the snow was falling from…...the ceiling, of course, though admittedly, it’s really, really high up – a lot higher than the Ruins, which you could touch in some places. Not even the mighty pines around you came close to the roof here; it almost seemed endless. You’re about the head down the only path, which happens to lead straight from the door, before you notice something glinting in the bushes. You cautiously approach, before realising that it seemed to be a camera. You gulp, now knowing you’d definitely been seen by someone….but you decide to give them the benefit of the doubt, waving with as friendly a smile as you could manage given how nervous you felt, before finally heading down the path.

The snow crunched pleasantly underfoot (it was something you’d always enjoyed) as you slowly ambled along, enjoying the peacefulness of the forest – it was the first time you’d seen anything other than stone walls for months. As much as you loved the Ruins, it would never replace your love for forests and the like; to see trees again put you at peace. You breath out again and again, relishing in seeing your breath billowing out of you like smoke out of a dragon. _Huh, that’s a thought, I wonder if there are dragon monsters…._

You suddenly come across an enormous branch in your path, which, mysteriously, is jet black, with not a speck of snow on it. You immediately feel suspicious of it, wondering what if it could possibly be some kind of….stick monster? You thoughts trail to Mr. Rock, wondering if this was the same.

"Hello?", you tentatively ask, your voice sounding awfully small as it echoed on the trees around you. You gently poke at the stick with the tip of your toe, fully preparing for enormous apologies, before breathing out a sigh of relief as the stick is revealed to be….a stick.

Suddenly, you hear something akin to a snort of laughter, and your head whips around, searching for the source of the noise – and you see nothing.

"H-hello?"

There is no answer.

Pulling your new coat a little closer to your body, you continue for a few more steps, until you scream, as something akin to a gunshot echoes around you. You whip around, ready to face whatever it was, and see something that, you have to admit, makes your blood run colder than the snow around you.

The enormous branch is snapped into bits.

Now you know someone is fucking with you.

"Ok, har har, I get it, it’s funny to scare people. But….please, it’s not very pleasant for me. Could you stop? It’s ok if you don’t want to come out, but…..please."

You wait for a moment, and when no one comes out, you sigh a little, before continuing on. As you walk, you occasionally see a shadow out the corner of your eye, but now that you know it’s someone playing a prank, you don’t feel scared out of your wits; though you still find it quite unnerving.

Eventually, you come to what appears to be a bridge of some sort. Obviously it was meant to serve as a gate as well as a bridge, but the bars were way too far apart – anyone would be able to walk on through. You laugh, reaching out a hand and touching the worn wood, appreciating the smoothness. Even though it didn’t really serve its purpose, you could tell that it was made with love and every good intention.

As if they had been waiting for you to reach the gate/bridge, you suddenly hear footsteps crunching a few feet from you, but before you can turn around, you realise that you’re frozen. Not that you’re really afraid any more, perhaps a little anxious, but nothing to make you freeze. No, you’re literally frozen in place, your limbs so heavy that, try as you might, you can’t move them. Sighing to yourself, realising that this was obviously a type of magic, you resign yourself to wait – hoping that Toriel’s friend is either the person approaching, or is at least watching to assure your safety.

Slowly, the ‘cruncher’ approaches, seeming to relish in creating tension, until, at last, they were directly behind you.

 

**"HUMAN."**

 

You start; this person knew you were human. So, this must be Toriel’s friend, right? Unless this was the owner of the camera…..someone working for Asgore…..

**"DON’T YOU KNOW HOW TO GREET A NEW FRIEND?"**

 

The voice was deep and husky, still holding an ominous edge to it – you couldn’t tell if this person was just trying to scare you, or if they really were a threat. The uncertainty was scaring you; your knees were shaking, your teeth chattering.

 

**"TURN AROUND..."**

 

Your legs suddenly swing you around of their own accord, spinning you so fast you squeak in surprise and more fear; whoever this was, they could easily control your body.

**"….AND SHAKE MY HAND."**

 

….ok, you didn’t expect that. In fact, it sounded pretty friendly! Even if the voice was still ominous. Still, you couldn’t raise your head to look at the speaker as you’re still more than a little scared; you gently hold out your hand, though you can’t stop from shaking. There’s a silence around you, before the speaker seems to sigh gently. You hear a rustling, as if the owner was preparing something, before a hand is gently placed in your own….before it pushes down suddenly on your palm, making you gasp in surprise, and…

 

...a loud fart noise echoes through the forest.

 

You laugh loudly before you can stop yourself, using your other hand to cover you mouth when your realise. You look at the monster holding your hand at last in surprise, seeing something you definitely didn’t expect.

 

He’s a skeleton.

 

Well, it _seemed_ he was one, anyway – he reminded you of one the same way Gaster did. The hand holding yours contained all the traditional joints and phalanges, but it felt like any other hand, as if you were holding flesh, not bone; you supposed that was yet another kind of magic. His face was pleasant, smiling an easy smile at you, brow bones furrowed slightly in concern at your nervousness; which meant that the ‘bone’ was obviously pliable….magic really was something. His sockets were empty voids, holding little lights akin to stars, which served as pupils; his under eyes seemed to almost have those purple shadows you can only get through lack of sleep, but he’d didn’t have them to an unhealthy level. He wore a strange ensemble of a comfy looking blue hoodie with a slightly furry collar, black basketball shorts which came down a little past his knees, and pink fluffy slippers with white socks (perhaps he’d forgotten to swap them out with shoes before he came out, you’d certainly done it before), his tibia and fibula clearly showing. He was also pretty tall; he had a good head height on you, enough that you had to look up – but not tall like Toriel.

"Hehehe….the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It’s ALWAYS funny, right?"

You chuckle lightly, before noticing you were still holding his hand; you draw it back a little shyly, though he doesn’t seem to mind, smiling a wider smile as he stuffs it back in his pocket.

"Hey, uh….really sorry if I scared you, bud. Just thought it would make for a dramatic introduction."

He winks, grinning like a Cheshire cat, and you let out another giggle; vaguely you took note that his incisors were the tiniest bit longer than a human’s, which gave his smile a cute edge – he wasn’t really scary at all.

"Hehe, it’s ok. Made for a pretty good joke….though…."

You quickly duck down, scoop up a handful of snow, and hold it out.

"….I just wish you weren’t so _cold_ when I first called out to you."

Instead of the chuckle he gave earlier, he let out a loud bark of laughter, before gathering himself, wiping an imaginary tear away.

"Heh, good one. Anyways, you’re a human, right?"

You think for a while, before shrugging to yourself, and giving a nod. If he wanted to hurt you, he would have, long before now; so you didn’t think there would be any harm in admitting it. If he was Toriel’s friend, this would be his confirmation, if not….well, you wanted to make new friends, and no good friendship is built on lies.

"That’s hilarious."

Well, it seemed he wasn’t your new ‘guardian’. In a way, that kind of made you happy – it showed that you could at least make friends outside of the Ruins.

"I’m Sans. Sans the skeleton."

You chuckle, kind of happy that your assumption had been correct.

"Hey Sans, nice to meet you. I’m y/n."

He smiles a little wider (if that was possible) at your politeness, before continuing.

"You know, I’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now….but….y’know…."

He pauses, his smile diminishing a little, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I don’t really care about capturing anybody. In fact, I think I’d only care if they were a bad person, but…."

He winks at you again, and you openly laugh this time, making a slight blue hue form on his cheeks; having spent time with Gaster, you knew this was blushing. For a minute you worried that you’d upset him, but breathed a sigh of relief when he continued.

"….but you’re not a bad person. Well, I don’t think so. I mean, how could you be, with such class puns?"

He grins at you, and you feel a warm happiness that you can at least act like yourself in front of your new potential friend.

"Now, my brother, Papyrus….he’s a human-hunting fanatic."

You gulp nervously, before he waved his hands in front of himself in reassurance.

"Oh no, don’t worry! Papyrus is a sweetheart; wouldn’t hurt a fly. He only tries so hard because he tries hard at _everything_ – don’t worry ‘bout it."

You smile gently at him, happy that he was trying to reassure you – he seemed like such a nice guy, you really hoped you’d be able to be friends. He suddenly looks behind you, smiling with an almost happy glow.

"Hey, you know, I think that’s him over there."

You quickly look behind; but you don’t seen anything. Turning back to Sans, you look at him with a confused expression, to which he shrugs.

"Call it my brother senses….or the fact that I know he’ll be doing his rounds in a few, as he’s always on the clock."

You both share a chuckle, and you can swear you almost see the lights in Sans’ eyes twinkling. Suddenly, his face lights up with inspiration.

"Hey, you know, I have an idea. Go through this gate thingy – yeah, go right through. My bro, uh, made the bars too wide to stop anyone….thought it wasn’t very polite."

You grin, laughing a little more, once again placing a hand on the woodwork.

"You know, I was thinking before that this must have been made with love. Papyrus did a good job; I’m excited to meet him."

Sans’ smile grows a little more, gaining that Cheshire cat quality once more.

"Ah, well, you see, that’s alllll part of my plan. C’mon, let’s go."

 

And with that, you follow your new skeleton buddy through Papyrus’ handy work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bless Toriel and all her sweetness >.< And we finally start....the slowest of burns *insert evil laughter here*  
> Alsoooo....guys look! The wonderful user coolabigirl drew the 'falling in a pile of awesome flowers' scene! >.< Gaaaah, I'm so happy! Go check it out! <3  
> https://coolabigirl.tumblr.com/image/170361685119
> 
>  
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	10. Brother Dynamics and Dog Treats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you're briefly mistaken for a rock...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

Sans walks on ahead of you, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his hoodie, giving him a casual air. When you’d first encountered him, he’d seemed a bit more on edge, nervous – perhaps it was because he’d scared you so much. But now, since talking and laughing with you, he seemed relaxed and happy; he kept looking around as you followed, giving you the occasional grin.

You crunch through the snow to keep up, feeling happy that the snow seemed nice and fresh, so you didn’t run the risk of slipping over and risking bruises (as well as looking like an idiot – falling over on your ass didn’t exactly give off the best first impression).

Eventually, you reach a small clearing with a really crooked old lamp, and fair sized snowball (it came up to your thigh – a good start to a snowman), and a little wooden hut with an open front, as if it were a small shop of some sort.

Sans suddenly turns to you, eyes seeming to alight with excitement.

"Quick! Behind that conveniently shaped lamp!"

You internally wondered how long he’d been waiting to say something akin to this.

"Sans, that lamp is neither convenient, nor big enough to cover my calf."

"Eh, fine. How ‘bout you _moo_ ve it behind that snow puff, then?"

You laugh. Ok, he had good pun game, you had to admit.

" _Icy_ what you did there. But, again, wouldn’t hide much."

He chuckles, before finally conceding.

"Okay, okay. Go inside the hut, just under the desk. I left the door open. Quick!"

Shaking you head good naturedly, you open the door to the quaint wooden hut, quickly ducking behind the desk – for some odd reason, there were about a dozen ketchup bottles underneath, but you managed to find a space where there was a convenient hole big enough for you to see through. Sans gives you a thumbs up, before once again burying his hands in his pockets nonchalantly, waiting for Papyrus to arrive, you guessed.

And you didn’t have to wait long; a few minutes later, yet another skeleton stormed up, stomping in the snow in a serious manner – well, you’re sure he meant it to be serious, but it seemed more innocent than anything else. He was a lot taller than Sans; you would estimate he was perhaps a little taller than Toriel’s height. In fact, oddly, he made Sans look quite short in comparison. He also had smaller eyes, and a longer face than Sans’; he didn’t have the same eye lights, but it wasn’t sinister, not even a little – it just added to the sense of innocent whimsy. He wore what looked to be armour; well, it only covered what you assumed to be his ribs, leaving his spine mostly exposed – though he had covered it well with tightly fitting black cloth. The armour itself was a white chest plate with gold trim; very smart. It was accompanied by orangey-red gloves (also with a gold trim), blue denim briefs with a shining golden belt, and knee high, orangey-red boots, lined with black fur. He also had quite the majestic orangey-red scarf/cape billowing out behind him; all in all, it was quite an eccentric appearance, but it was one that you liked.

Papyrus stood a little ways from Sans, hands scrunched up in obvious frustration, eyes narrowed; in comparison, Sans seemed even more relaxed than before, a content smile in place.

"’Sup, bro?"

"You know what’s ‘sup’ brother!"

Papyrus spoke in one of the loudest voices you’d ever heard; it made you jump something frightful when he first spoke, and you had to hold in your nervous laughter. His voice was ‘proper’; he seemed to roll all his r’s with purpose.

"It’s been EIGHT days, and you still haven’t. Recalibrated. Your. Puzzles!"

You knew that puzzles had been quite an integral part of the Ruins, but it seemed Papyrus took this tradition very, very seriously.

"You just hang around outside your station! What are you even doing?!"

"Staring at this lamp. It’s really cool. Though my station’s cooler. Do you wanna look?"

For a second you look at Sans in surprise; was he selling you out?

"NO!! I don’t have time for that!"

You silently chuckle as Papyrus actually starts to stamp his feet in frustration; it seemed that Sans was teasing both you and his brother, all at the same time. Touché.

"What if a human comes through here?"

_What if indeed._

"I want to be ready! I will be the one! I must be the one! I _will_ capture a human!"

He seems to take a breath to calm himself, no longer stomping his feet. Oh, you could tell from the dynamics of these two that Sans was the older brother.

"Then, I, the great Papyrus….will get all the things I utterly deserve!"

You hum to yourself, expecting money, or gold, or whatever.

"Respect….recognition….I will finally be able to join the Royal Guard!"

Oooh, now you understood why he was wearing armour. Still, it did make for a great fashion statement.

"People will….ask to be my friend."

You stop smiling at this, feeling a little sad; who wouldn’t want to be his friend? He seemed like a nice guy. You notice Sans’ smile dwindling a little too – he obviously just wanted his brother to be happy. Papyrus continued, appearing to not feel too negative about things, apparently lost in his dreams of ‘The Royal Guard’.

"I will bathe in a shower of kisses every morning!"

You had to silently ‘aww’ at that – bless his cotton socks. Sans’ grin stretched a little wider, as he obviously saw an opportunity to tease his brother again without causing too much damage...you hoped.

"Maaaaybe my station will help you?"

"Sans! You are NOT helping! You...you….LAZYBONES! All you do is sit around and boondoggle! You get lazier and lazier everyday!"

You have to more or less shove your fist in your mouth to cover you laugh; did he intend to make that pun? And what the hell did ‘boondoggle’ mean?

"Heeeey, take it easy. I’ve gotten a ton of work done today..."

Sans takes a beat to wink in your direction.

"….a _skele-ton_."

He breaks his causal pose for a second, miming out the classic, and always comic rim shot, sound effects and all. Papyrus more or less howls at this, which covers your laughter quite nicely.

"SANS!"

"Come on. You’re smiling; I can see it."

"I AM AND I HATE IT."

Papyrus heaves a heavy sigh.

"Why does someone as great as me...have to do so much to get some recognition..."

"Heh. Sounds like you’re working yourself….down to the _bone_."

Again, Papyrus screeches, perfectly covering your badly covered up laughter.

"Urgh! I will attend to my puzzles. As for your work? Put a little more…."

Papyrus leans forward, whilst Sans seems to almost be giddy.

"…. _BACKBONE_ into it!"

At this, you all laugh, which is when you discover that Papyrus seems to laugh in an almost Skeletor way - ‘nyeh heh heh’ and all.

Without a final loud, ‘heh’, Papyrus runs away at full speed, snow flying up in a cloud behind him; a perfect dramatic exit for one as great as him.

You crawl out from under your hiding place, exiting the station, still wiping tears of laughter from your face. Sans grins at you, obviously approving of the fact you liked his and his brother’s jokes.

"He’s the coolest, right?"

"Yup, certainly is! I just…"

You sigh gently, pushing the snow about with your foot, Sans’ smile shrinking just a little.

"...I just wish that I could be his friend, you know? I mean, why wouldn’t anyone want to be his friend, he’s a sweetheart."

Sans huffs a little, breathing out a cloud, which instantly fascinates you; you’d have to ask him a bunch of questions later, if you had the opportunity.

"Yeah, he sure is….but he’s been so focused on this ‘Royal Guard’ stuff…..his friend Undyne is the head of the Royal Guard, you see?"

"Oh, so he does have at least one friend?"

"Heh, two, if you include me. But yeah, he’s been so focused that he’s just been training everyday. That’s why I got this sentry job – to support his dream, y’know?"

You smile at him appreciatively, which appears to make him blush a little.

"You’re a really good big brother, you know?"

There’s a beat of silence as he stares at you with wide eyes, before grinning sheepishly, blushing a little more, and rubbing the back of his neck absent-mindedly.

"You guessed I was the big bro, huh?….but thanks, means a lot."

You both smile at each other for a while, before Sans coughs a little.

"Heh, guess you oughta get going, huh? He might come back, and if he does..."

He winks slowly at you.

"….you’ll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."

"Oh no, whatever shall I do. But no, you’ve got a point…."

You shuffle a little, suddenly feeling a little unsure of yourself; you didn’t know where to go, there was only one path, and who knows what was on that path…

"Hey."

You look up to see Sans looking at you a little worriedly; but when you look up he gives you a soft smile.

"There’s nothing to be afraid of, eh? It’s just a dark cavern with spooky skeletons in it."

He wiggles his fingers at you, making you smile and let out a weak chuckle.

"Thanks Sans. I’ll see you around, ok?"

You turn and steel yourself, trying to think back to all the training the largest Froggit had given you; you would be safe. But as you’re starting to walk down the path, Sans’ voice reaches you.

"Actually, hey…."

You turn back, and eyebrow quirked.

"Yeah, what’s up?"

Sans wore that sheepish look again, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his hoodie.

"Hate to bother you, but can you do me a favour?"

"No bother at all – honestly. Sure."

You smile at him, which makes him drop the sheepish look and smile back at you.

"I was thinking….you know my brother’s been kind of down a little, lately….he’s never seen a human before. And seeing you, well, it might just make his day."

Before you can even react, Sans is once again holding up his hands in reassurance.

"Don’t worry – you know that he’s not dangerous….even if he tries to be."

You both chuckle a little – it was obvious that Papyrus would probably cry over squishing a fly, for god sake.

"Yeah, of course! I wasn’t worried about him hurting me before, anyway. He’s far too nice a guy; plus it’d be cool to meet him and become friends."

Sans’ grin widened to that Cheshire cat quality once again.

"Thanks a million. So, I’ll see you up ahead?"

"Yeah, of course!"

Mysteriously, with one last grin in your direction, Sans seems to walk back down the path towards the Ruins; perhaps he knew a shortcut? Well, it made sense, since he lived here. Crunching your neck from side to side, and pulling your coat a little closer, you start along the path, kind of happy that Papyrus had cleared a perfect snow-less path for you without his knowledge.

It was then that you saw it.

Sitting in a corner by a tree, was a very familiar golden light; a golden light that could only belong to those little stars that you’d seen before. You’d seen them a few more times in the Ruins, always in the same places that you’d seen them previously, and try as you might, you could never touch them, not really – it was if they were smoke running through your fingers, before dispersing as usual. But you could never seem to be able to resist touching them; who knew, maybe one day you would achieve your dream.

Sighing gently, you reach for the star, watching as it faded out of existence as your finger tips made contact.

You weren’t quite sure what you expected.

The wind suddenly blew a little harder, making you squeak a little as your hair flew about; you hurriedly tucked it all inside your hood, pulling the cosy fur over your head. You wondered how Toriel was; it had been about an hour or so that you had exited the Ruins….she would be tending to the garden about now, that was always something she did in the mornings.

You hurriedly slap your cheeks; she said you could go back to see her anytime, you could phone her anytime – there was nothing to feel sad about!

Nodding to yourself determinedly, you continue on along the snowy path, noticing how the forest seemed to thicken a little around you, the trees becoming a tiny bit shorter – perhaps the residents used the trees for firewood, then replanted as soon as one was used; something you could appreciate, as humans seemed to be horrifically wasteful when it came to such things.

Before long, you see Papyrus and Sans in the distance, and quickly jog up, feeling a slight smile run across your features; making new friends would keep the blues away, that’s for sure. Papyrus is talking loudly, obviously in the middle of telling Sans some kind of event of his day.

"So, as I was saying about Undyne..."

That’s when Papyrus seemed to notice you out the corner of his eye. He turns to you, a shocked expression on his face, before turning to Sans in excitement, turning back to you….he repeated this process faster and faster, and you worried slightly that he would explode with excitement. Sans however watched this whole process with a grin that was getting larger and larger, clearly awaiting said explosion. Finally Papyrus turned to Sans, gasping with excitement.

"Sans!! Oh my god!! Is that...a human?!"

"Uhhh….actually, I think that’s a rock."

You look about in confusion until you notice a rock slightly behind you. You look at Sans with a dead-panned expression, and he shrugs. Papyrus meanwhile deflates with disappointment.

"Oh..."

Backtracking, Sans quickly pipes up.

"Hey, what’s that in _front_ of the rock?"

Papyrus immediately lights up again, which makes you chuckle; bless him.

"Oh my god!"

He then turns to Sans and whispers; well, does his best at whispering, but to be honest it was more or less at a normal voice level.

"Is….is _that_ a human?"

Sans plays along, leaning in and stage whispering back.

"...yes."

Papyrus yells louder than you’d ever heard him, making you jump a little.

"OH MY GOD!! SANS! I FINALLY DID IT! Undyne will….I’m gonna….I’ll be so…."

He appears to be tearing up with happiness, which frankly warms your heart.

"Popular! Popular! Popular!!"

He then draws himself upright, obviously trying his very best to behave professionally.

"Ahem! Human! You shall not pass this area! I, the great Papyrus, will stop you! I will then capture you! Then….then!….I’m not sure what comes next."

He looks a little unsure, so you decide to step in. With a flourish, you put your hands on your hips.

"Very well, great Papyrus! I accept your challenge."

He seems to perk up, while Sans surreptitiously gives you the thumbs up.

"Good human – confidence when facing an opponent is always the best! In any case! Continue...only if you dare!"

He then runs away excitedly, his ‘nyeh heh heh’s’ echoing behind him. You and Sans watch this display with amusement, before Sans turns to you, grinning as per usual.

"Well, that went well."

"It certainly did!….I’m guessing he doesn’t know about the…..you know, the ‘after’."

Of course, you knew about what this Royal Guard was really for; taking human souls, as Toriel had taught you. Sans shakes his head, uncharacteristically frowning a little.

"Nope….I didn’t want to upset him, you know? I think the idea of hurting anybody would really crush him. His boss thinks so too – she’s promised me that she’d spare him that kind of….yeah."

You both stand in silence for a while, letting those words sink in. Inwardly, you scoffed at yourself; you didn’t know what you had been expecting, really. Of course this was what this was all about – now you were out of the Ruins, you weren’t safe, everyone was out to get you. This ‘guardian’ person had never shown up, and now you were going to-

"Hey, uh, don’t worry."

You look up suddenly, seeing Sans trying to give you a warm smile, while his expression was also obviously concerned.

"I….you’ll be ok, like I said. I’ll keep an..."

He winks at you, obviously still trying to cheer you up.

"…. _eye socket_ out for ya."

You had to laugh at that, which made his expression fall back into a relieved smile.

"I’ll see you up ahead y/n, ok? You just continue along this path; you won’t get lost that way."

With one last smile, he runs off after his brother. He obviously was set on keeping you safe, which once again made you wonder if he was the one that Toriel was talking about….you would have asked her, but since she didn’t know his name, it seemed a little pointless. As usual, you decide that trusting Toriel would be the best option, and try to keep in mind that whoever, and wherever this friend was, they would try to make sure you were safe.

With that slightly more positive thought in mind, you follow the path as Sans had instructed, and before long, you reach another cute little station, with a sign right next to it. You leaned forward to read it, and mysteriously it simply said that there was to be no moving. You didn’t quite understand that, so you shrug, and just as you’re about to go past the station, you freeze as you hear a shuffling noise. Seeing movement out the corner of your eye, you gently and very slowly move your head just enough to see a dog with a dog treat in the shape of a bone rise up from behind the counter, eyes moving in a suspicious manner from side to side. The dog’s fur is black and white (like a collie, it seemed), and it wore a vest top, heavy belt and tight fitting trousers that seemed to carry some sort of animal print. To your shock, the dog suddenly spoke in a tough, slightly growly voice; though to be honest, you shouldn’t really be surprised by anything at this point.

"Did...something move? Was it my imagination?"

Suddenly the sign made sense – maybe this dog’s eyesight wasn’t the best.

"I….can only see moving things."

Well, that confirmed it. The dog suddenly seemed to try to steel itself; obviously trying to fight the insecurity of not being able to see all that well.

"If something WAS moving….say, for instance….a h-human…..I’ll make sure that it NEVER moves again!"

The dog huffs, trying to sound threatening. But to you, someone who loves animals, it only sounded cute – you didn’t like the idea of this dog being scared, so you decide to speak up.

"Uh, hey, I -"

The dog shrieks in surprise, and you feel your soul being practically yanked out of your chest. As you reel from the shock, the dog leaps over the counter, landing in front on you, standing on his hind legs, holding two knives in his front paws.

Taking a breath to steady yourself, you see the familiar text above his head: **DOGGO. HP:70. EASILY EXCITED BY MOVEMENT. HOBBIES INCLUDE: SQUIRRELS.**

You thought carefully to yourself, not wanted to scare him further – so you decide to gently hop from foot to foot, so he can see you. And see you, he does; he visibly relaxes when you come into view, before squinting up above your head, then immediately looking a little nervous; you assume he’d read you stats.

"Hey, um….I’m sorry for scaring you. I just wanted to say hi!"

He frowns a little, obviously trying to keep up his tough demeanour, but also not wanting to hurt you, it seemed.

"Um, my name is y/n."

"….Doggo."

"Well, it’s really nice to meet you, Doggo!"

You smile at him as gently as you can, and he hums in return. You do notice he hasn’t ended the battle, however, so it’s obvious he’s still feeling a little unsure. Suddenly, you have an idea; the only thing that made dogs happier than anything on the surface was being petted, so why wouldn’t it work in this situation? Well, it might offend him, but you were willing to take that risk to reassure him. Gently, you hop a little closer, his eyes watching you at all times, though he doesn’t back away, which is reassuring. Slower still, you reach out, and very, very softly, you pat his head. He jolts in surprise, his knives instantly dropping, and his tail begins to wag.

"What…? I’ve been….pet?"

His tail wags more furiously, and you giggle, petting his head a little more. Then, he openly relaxes, and you feel your soul return to you once more, as the battle ends. Doggo sighs, tail still wagging a little, as you withdraw your hand, still hopping from foot to foot.

"Eh, sorry about that, y/n….it’s just a little….yeah."

"It’s ok. I would be a little unnerved too, if my sight was bad. But you’re really tough – leaping out with knives like it was nothing! It was cool."

He laughs, then covers it with a cough and a sigh.

"Yeah, well, I’d better get back to my station….though I might sneak a dog treat. Don’t tell anyone, ok?"

You grin, easily complying. Doggo huffs, digging in his pockets, retrieving about 30g, which he gently hands to you, to your surprise.

"Here…..look, keep your chin up, kid."

You nod, and he stalks back to his station, before once again sinking beneath the counter, obviously in search of dog treats. Then, to your shock, you hear the sound of a lighter being struck, followed by smoke gently wafting up into the frigid air behind the counter. Well well, it seemed that sneaking a dog treat was a little more devious that you thought – not that you planned on telling on him, of course. Chuckling softly under you breath, you continue along the pathway, happy that your worn out boots seemed to be holding up quite well against the snow; not that your were sure they would all that much longer, but for now you were happy that your socks remained nice and dry.

Suddenly, you step out into a small clearing, and almost walk into Sans, which makes you both jump.

"Oh, uh, sorry Sans, I didn’t see you there!"

"Heh, no worries. Um, look, I just wanted to warn ya, in case I didn’t get the chance later on….my bro, he has this special attack. Basically, if he throws things that are blue at you…..don’t move."

You look at him blankly.

"Don’t….move? You mean, let them hit me?"

"Well, yea? ‘cept, they won’t hit you. They’ll just pass through you – they work on movement. If you move, it’ll hurt, trust me."

"Well….ok then. I trust you."

He smiles at you warmly, a tint of blue on his cheekbones.

"Yeah, uh, just wanted to tell you that…..now, I gotta catch up to Paps, so see ya."

"Heh, bye then."

He quickly zips off, though not quite at the speed of his younger brother, leaving you feeling a little bemused. Within the clearing previously occupied by Sans, you see a snowman, and as you’re about to wall past, it whispers a quick, ‘hello’, to you, making you stop.

"Hello. I am a snowman."

"Hey there, I’m y/n."

"Hello, y/n, I called out, because I wanted to see if you could perhaps do me a favour? I want to see the world...but, I cannot move. If you would be so kind, please…..take a piece of me and bring it very far away."

"Oh, uh, wow…..um….won’t that hurt you?"

"Oh no, not at all. But I can use that piece to travel to wherever you place it – I would love to see something new. Please?"

You must admit, you feel awfully sorry for the poor snowman.

"Sure, of course! Uh, what should I…?"

"Oh, thank you, thank you!"

The snowman seems to already have a piece at the ready, which he hands to you; you proceed to gently place it in your phone’s inventory. Waving goodbye, you continue to follow the path, speeding up when you start to hear the familiar shrieks of Papyrus…

 

...who was probably yelling at Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus = Tol Cinnamon roll (*^▽^*) 
> 
> Look! More fanart! :o This one's from the lovely luna-versalias, who depicted what she imagined y/n's soul to look like! https://luna-versalias.tumblr.com/post/170668796948/this-was-based-on-yns-soul-from-the-story  
> I got inspired and drew my own, eheheh. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/image/170726069661
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	11. Puzzle Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you are mistaken....for a puppy. °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

Yes, you were definitely correct – it seemed Sans was getting grilled again, which seemed to be amusing him greatly. They were standing across a large expanse of ice, which was purposely shaped into a square; a puzzle, perhaps?

"You’re so LAZY! You were napping all night!"

"I think that’s called…. _sleeping_."

"Excuses, excuses!"

Papyrus then seems to take notice of your presence, turning in your direction excitedly, whilst Sans gives a casual wave.

"Oh-ho! The human arrives!"

Papyrus straightens himself a little, but still can’t mask the excitement he’s obviously feeling.

"In order to stop you, my brother and I have created some puzzles! And I think you will find this one…..quite shocking! For you see….this is the invisible electricity maze!"

He waggles his brow-bones, which makes you giggle, before realising he said ‘electricity’. You really, really hoped that Sans knew humans and electricity did not mix, not one bit. Papyrus continues, excitedly producing a glass orb from behind him.

"When you touch the walls of this maze, this orb will administer a hearty zap! Ok, you can go ahead now."

You had to admit, it was a clever idea, but there seemed to be a fatal flaw….

"Oh, um, great Papyrus?"

"Why, yes, human?"

"Don’t I have to hold the, urm, orb?"

Papyrus stops to think for a minute.

"Oh, you’re quite right, human! How silly of me."

Papyrus then proceeds to walk over the ice to hand you the orb….leaving a very obvious trail of snowy footprints, signifying the maze’s layout. You can seen Sans visibly laughing at this point, holding a hand over his mouth, and you desperately hold back any mirth so Papyrus wouldn’t be offended. Gently, he places the orb in your hands, requesting that you, ‘hold this, please’. You oblige, watching Papyrus travel back to Sans, going over his tracks, making the layout even more obvious. Once he has reached his destination, he turns to you, not bothering to hide his excitement as his bounced from foot to foot.

"Okay, try now!"

Playing along, you carefully make your way along his footprints, taking it as slow as you could to seem authentic. Papyrus seems to watch in suspense; clearly not suspecting a thing – whilst Sans tries to keep a straight expression, face occasionally twitching to signify holding back laughter. Keeping your own poker face in place, you finally manage to reach the end, Papyrus and Sans clapping at your ‘incredible’ feat. Sans uses this moment to shove down further laughter, whilst Papyrus turns to you, admiration upon his face.

"Incredible! You slippery snail! You solved it so easily….however!"

He stands upright, a look of fierce determination upon his features.

"The next puzzle will not be easy! For it is designed by my brother, Sans!"

Papyrus gestured wildly behind him at Sans, who proceeded to do casual jazz hands, making you giggle; these two together were a complete comedy act.

"You will surely be confounded! I know I was! Nyeh heh heh heh!"

Papyrus made his usual dramatic exit, and you cover you face to avoid the snow cloud he rustled up. After this passes, you bring your hands back down, and laugh as you see Sans doing the exact same – apparently he doesn’t like a face full of snow either. He looks at you sheepishly, blushing slightly.

"Hey, uh, thanks….my brother seems like he’s having fun...by the way, did you see the...uh, outfit he was wearing?"

"How could I not? It’s pretty cool."

"Heh….I made it for him, a few weeks ago for a costume party. He loved it so much, he hasn’t worn anything else since; keeps calling it his ‘battle body’….hehe, he’s so cool."

You both share a laugh, before Sans waves goodbye, once again racing to catch up to his brother. He obviously adored his little brother – it was nice. You’d never really had anything close to that dynamic, as none of the other children at the orphanage liked to talk to you, unless it was to bully you. You sigh unhappily, shaking away the bad thoughts, hurriedly crunching your feet in the snow. Upon the horizon, you see what seems to be a wooden bridge, but before you can consider running up to it, you stop dead in your tracks; for you spot a monster is standing casually, leaning on what appears to be an ice-cream cart.

It looks a little like a startling blue rabbit like creature, only standing on it’s hind legs, with far more ‘human’ features; for instance, as it’s leaning against the ice cream kart, the expression plastered on it’s face is pure apathy. It sports a pink nose, and a tuft of fur at the very top of it’s head; it also wears a yellow shirt with a double red strip running vertically on one side, and matching red trousers….with no shoes. How it could stand the freezing snow was beyond you.

At the sight of you, it apparently perks up, and not in the ‘I wish to enter a battle with you’ way. Instead, it greets you with a friendly wave, now wearing an excited expression. Waving shyly back, you approach.

"Well hey there! Would you like some nice cream?"

"Uh…..nice cream?"

"Yeah! It’s the frozen treat that warms your heart! It’s 15g – a total steal."

Now, considering you past experience with monster food, no way in hell are you passing up this opportunity.

"Sure! I’ll take one."

The rabbit stops, staring at you with happy, gleaming eyes.

"You know….you’re the only one to stop by here and buy something in like, forever. I just….don’t understand why these aren’t selling! It’s the perfect weather for something cold!"

Now, you could disagree with this, but since you love monster food, and anything akin to ice cream, you’re inclined to agree.

"Well, I think it’s lovely. Don’t worry – I’m sure business will pick up soon. And when it does, I’ll be your star costumer!"

The rabbit appears more than a little touched at this, and reaches out a paw to shake your hand.

"I’m Roy – and I’m really hoping that you’re right, miss….?"

"I’m y/n, just y/n."

"Heh, so, y/n…..which flavours would you like? ‘cause I’m giving you one for free!"

"Oh wow! Um, thank you, uh….what flavours do you have?"

"Well, I’ve got…."

He proceeds to rattle of 21 different flavours, some of which, mysteriously, are just colours – making your head spin a little with the information overload.

"So, which two would you like?"

"Oh, uh, wow, that’s a lot of flavours! You might wanna consider getting a board for them, Roy, heh."

His eyes widen, and you swear you can almost see a lightbulb above his head.

"Wow, I never thought of that! Y/n, you’re a genius!"

Thinking on the spot, you decide on your all time favourite, vanilla, and one of the mysterious colours – blue, whatever that meant. Roy happily hands over your frozen treats, which you stash in your phone for later, then you cheerfully wave goodbye, happy that you’ve at least brightened another being’s day.

You cautiously cross over the wooden bridge, but feel a bit more brave when you discover it’s incredibly sturdy – you don’t know why you thought otherwise, as it would have to be sturdy to withstand Papyrus stomping over it everyday. When you step off the bridge, however, you do have to continue with the utmost care; the ground has suddenly given way to just pure ice. Squeaking in a horrified fashion, legs suddenly splayed, you fall flat on your butt. Sighing with annoyance, as you were sure you’d almost escaped receiving any bruises, you carefully get up, and take a good ten minutes traversing the icy patch; which is achieved by spreading your arms wide, and moving your legs in tiny motions, all while posed in an attractive squat-like position. You’re almost at your goal (the path starting up again), when you hear a snigger, and glance up to see Sans, which makes you promptly fall on your ass again. This appears to totally break him, and he breaks into long, loud laughter, all while you glare at him from your icy seat. Eventually, he reaches down to help you up, which you accept, pride thoroughly damaged.

"Heh….heh….I’m sorry, I’ve just…."

"Yup, I know, so funny. How long have you been watching, hmm?"

"Since the bridge...haha…."

You blush furiously, hiding your face in your hood, which makes him laugh even more. He has a very pleasant laugh; deep like his voice, but completely alight with mirth.

"Hey, hey, I’m sorry. Huh, but you know, I’ve been thinking of selling treats, too."

You raise an eyebrow with sarcasm.

"Oh really?"

"Heh. Yup. So, whadda say? Want some fried snow? It’s just 5g."

You decide to call his bluff, trying your best to match his grin.

"Yeah, sure."

He falters a little, before regaining his grin.

"Did I say 5g? I meant 50g."

"Yeah, sure."

"Heh….really? How about 5000g?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh...um….50000g. That’s my final offer."

You decide to admit defeat – he was a poker face master. But you made it your mission to break it one day; you’d have to challenge him to a match of Texas hold ‘em.

"Aw, I’m sorry….I don’t have that much..."

"Whaaaat? You don’t have the money?"

He puts on a mock disappointed face, while you hang your head in mock shame. He pats your shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Hey, that’s ok. I don’t have any snow."

You look at him, then around you incredulously, then back at him.

"Does that snow look fried to you?"

Suddenly, it seems neither of you can keep a straight face, so you both burst out with laughter. When that subsides, Sans grins at you fondly.

"Hey, I’ll walk with you – Paps is just a little ways ahead, with my amazing puzzle."

"Oh, is that right? Well, I look forward to it."

He blushes a little, chuckling under his breath, as you both start to crunch forward, which suddenly reminds you – he’s still wearing slippers.

"Um, Sans…."

"Yeeeah?"

"...you do realise that you’re wearing slippers, right?"

He looks down and shrugs.

"I kinda realised a while ago, but they’re really comfy, so I didn’t see the point in going back home to change ‘em. I’ll just dry them out when they get wet later."

"Well, slippers are pretty damn comfy, so I don’t blame you."

"Oh-ho? So you’re pro slipper as well?"

"Well, when my feet get cold – otherwise, I just go barefoot."

"Hmm….I always have to at least wear socks. Unless I’m in bed, urgh."

"….why are we talking so in depth about this?"

"….I have no idea."

There’s a beat of silence, before you both bust out into stupid giggles, which is when Papyrus comes into view.

"Human! Sans! Stop your canoodling and take this challenge seriously!"

Sans casually walks over to his brother, not even trying to take it ‘seriously’, while you straighten your back, and Papyrus appears to look impressed at your actions.

"Human! I hope you’re ready for…."

Papyrus looks a little confused, before glaring at his brother.

"Sans! Where’s the puzzle?!"

"Oh yeah."

Sans walks, just as casual as always, to the middle ground between you and Papyrus, gently places a piece of paper on the icy ground, the hops back into a place with a smug expression.

"It’s right there. On the ground. Truuust me, there’s no way they can get past this one."

Papyrus appears to be at a loss of what to say, so to break the tension you walk forwards and gently pick up the paper….only to look incredulously at Sans, who simply shrugs. The paper is….a word search.

"Do I….at least get a pen?"

Sans provides one with a flourish, and with a sigh, you sit on the icy ground (your jeans are already damp from falling over, so it’s no big deal) and fill it out, before handing it back to Sans, who mocks almost falling over with shock.

"P-Paps! I can’t believe it! The human solved the word search so easily!"

Papyrus gasps, quickly taking the paper, then regarding you with amazed eyes.

"Human….well done! I shall see you at the next puzzle!"

He takes off with his usual exit, both you and Sans already covering your faces in preparation for the snow flurry. Sans sighs, but waves before he takes off after his brother.

You continue with a huff, planting your hands firmly in your pockets; you knew the gloves you had weren’t quite thick enough, but you were thankful for your coat, more than ever – the cosy pockets were more than substantial for warming your hands. To be honest, you were a little surprised that Sans hadn’t called you up on the skeleton print, but you put it down to the fact he was distracted with his brother’s hi-jinks; you’re pretty sure that he would notice eventually….then you’re more than pretty sure he’ll never stop teasing you about them. You obviously don’t want to get rid of them, but you’re also a little unsure if they would be deemed offensive by the brothers. Obviously, at the moment you could do nothing about it, as taking them of in this weather would be a truly stupid idea.

A golden light appears just in front of you, making you huff all the more; not only were you having to contemplate your glove situation, it seemed that your old enemy, the golden star, was back and ready to frustrate you once again.

Stomping up, you’re immediately distracted by an odd sight; there’s a small wooden table, with a microwave, and small note, and….a plate of spaghetti? The star shines just in front of this scene; pushing down your obvious confusion, you swipe at it, and it disappears as always. You groan in annoyance, before turning your attention once again to the table, carefully picking up the note; it’s from Papyrus.

 

‘ _Human! Please enjoy this spaghetti! Little do you know, this spaghetti is a trap….designed to entice you! You’ll be so busy eating it…..that you won’t realise that you aren’t progressing! Thoroughly japed again by the great Papyrus!…..from Papyrus.’_

 

You let out a snort of laughter; Papyrus was such a cinnamon roll. Going as far as to write down your plan? Simply beautiful.

Investigating the fabled spaghetti, you find, to your horror, that it’s frozen solid to the plate. Quickly looking to the microwave for help, you not only find that it’s unplugged, but all the settings simply read ‘spaghetti’. You ponder what to do – you didn’t want to upset Papyrus by not trying his cooking, but you also didn’t want to break your teeth in the process. You poke at the frozen pasta sadly, before continuing along the trail; hopefully you could just explain to Papyrus the situation, and beg to try his cooking at a later date.

Hoping to catch up to the brothers sooner, you start to jog carefully through the snow, avoiding the ice as best as you can – soon enough, you come to another sturdy wooden bridge and grin to yourself, happy with your progress. The path, almost linear until now, makes a sudden turn to the right, which you start to follow, until you freeze. Two hooded figures stand in your way, holding axes about twice the size of you, and slowly approach as you come into view. Frozen in fear, you watch as they start to sniff the air.

"What’s that smell?"

"...where’s that smell?"

They come closer, sniffing the air around you. One voice is distinctly feminine, whilst the other is male.

"If you’re a smell…."

"….identify your self!"

Unable to say anything, still staring at the horrifically sharp axes, you can only watch at they come closer, eventually ruffling the hair on the top of your head with their sniffs.

"Hmm….here’s that weird smell."

You felt vaguely offended; you thought you smelled pretty clean, if anything. All of a sudden, your soul is brought forward, but you still decide to stay as still as possible; you’re caught between the hooded characters, it was better to wait for them to strike, then make a dash for open ground. With a flourish, they both remove their hoods, becoming a little less threatening (if not for the giant axes); they’re both dogs, much the same as Doggo, but more along the lines of the golden Labrador family. When they catch each other's eye contact, they stare lovingly at one another, giving you the chance to at least stand opposite them; much better for dodging.

**DOGI ASSAULT YOU! DOGAMY. HP:54. DOGARESSA. HP:54.**

This was a first – you’d never experienced two monsters attacking at once! And worst of all, for now they weren’t even looking at your stats, it seemed; they were too busy looking into each other's eyes, pressing their noses together….which was, admittedly, really cute, but they also had enormous axes clutched in their paws. On closer inspection, you could easily see which was the female, and which was the male; Dogamy was the male, with a slight moustache and cow-lick hairstyle, whilst Dogaressa was the female, with beautiful eyelashes that frankly made you feel a little jealous. You had to think quick; obviously these two felt threatened by your smell, probably having not smelt a human before, so you tried to talk them over.

"Hey, uh -"

Dogamy suddenly looks up, puffing out his chest.

"Leave my hot dog alone!"

There’s a beat of silence, before Dogaressa chuckles shyly, covering her mouth with a paw in a coy fashion.

"….he means me."

Both axes are swung in your direction, making you yelp, and quickly duck to the floor, rolling ‘gracefully’ out of the way, effectively covering yourself in snow and dirt from the forest floor. Suddenly, both dogs pause, sniffing the air uncertainly. Your soul is all but slammed back into your chest as both dogs finally look at you, and take a little more time sniffing you. You lie still, before they both offer paws to help you up. There’s a small awkward silence, before both dogs speak at once.

"Um, you smell like..."

"Are you actually a puppy?"

You blink.

"A….puppy?"

"Yes. A small, lost puppy."

You think on this….you don’t want to lie to them, but you also don’t want to be sliced into pieces. So instead, you decide to go with what seemed to work with Doggo – you gently pet both of them, on the head, between their silken ears.

"Wow! Pet by another pup!"

"A dog that pets dogs….amazing!"

You giggle, as both their tails go crazy and they start to rave about how a whole new world has opened for them, now that they knew that dogs could pet other dogs. You gently stop, and they hurriedly hand you 40g before bounding away excitedly, saying thanks to you; even if they did refer to you as a ‘weird puppy’. You sigh, wiping snow and dirt off you – you could always correct them later, in a safer environment. As you’re patting yourself down, you see a flash of orange from behind a tree, just for a second – you stop patting, concentrating on that tree, grinning when you see the face of Papyrus peeking out, before trying to hide again when he saw that you were looking.

"Hey, Papyrus."

He leaps out from behind the tree, arms on hips, looking as impressive as he could muster.

"Human! Your detective skills must be second to non – how else would you know that I was nearby? Regardless! Human! How did you get past my devious trap?"

Oh no, the moment you’d been dreading.

"Papyrus….your spaghetti looked most delicious, and I must say, I spent quite a while just staring at it, but….it was frozen to the plate. Um….one day, could you make me an unfrozen version?"

For a while, Papyrus simply stares. Then breaks out into a joyous grin, much to your relief.

"Really?! Wowie! Well then – fret not, human! I, master chef Papyrus, will make you all the pasta you could ever want!"

He laughs happily, but to your shock, waits for you to walk alongside him, instead of taking off in his usual dramatic fashion. As you walk into step with him, he immediately breaks out into random, energetic conversation.

"My brother started a sock collection recently."

"...a...sock collection?"

"Yes! He mainly keeps them all over his room, but keeps ‘accidentally’ leaving them in the living room, as well."

"So he’s a little untidy?"

"Yes….I even leave post-it notes for him! But he just writes me ones back."

You laugh inwardly; definitely something Sans would do to tease his brother. Instead of expressing any mirth however, you decide to pat Papyrus’ arm, which makes him smile. He suddenly stops dead in his tracks, which of course makes you stop, looking at him in concern.

"Human….how do I say this….you were taking such a long time to arrive, so I decided to improve this puzzle!"

Looking in front of you, you can only describe the scene as something akin to noughts and crosses, but with snowballs added into the mix.

"Oh, well, cool!"

"Yes, very cool! I arranged it to look like my face!"

Examining it closer, you do in fact see a resemblance; you’ve got to hand it to the guy, he does put a crazy amount of effort into things, which was commendable.

"...unfortunately, human, the snow froze to the ground….so there doesn’t seem to be a solution….and as usual, my lazy brother is nowhere to be seen!"

This was, in fact, not true; the tree just behind Papyrus revealed Sans, who hurriedly made a ‘zip it’ motion before ducking back into ‘hiding’. Ignoring him, you decide to try to comfort Papyrus.

"Oh, it’s ok! Papyrus, you’re the best puzzle creator I know; I bet there’s a way to solve it, it just must be super hard!"

Papyrus holds both hands to his face, a massive grin in place.

"Wowie! The best?!"

"Yup! So, if you want, we can solve it together!"

Papyrus nods enthusiastically, and you both set to work. As it turned out, the solution wasn’t too hard to find out; every time you stepped on an ‘x’ it would turn into an ‘o’ and the aim was to turn every ‘x’ into an ‘o’ - it was just a method of planning where you stepped. When the puzzle was complete, there was a victory tune, which you had to admit, was a nice touch, and yourself and Papyrus cheered along with it.

"Human, I’m so impressed! You must really like puzzles, like I do!"

"Well, they’re a fun way to pass the time, for sure."

"Well! I’m sure you’ll love the next puzzle then! It might even….dare I say it….be too easy for you!"

This time he follows true to form with his usual cackling run off, and you cover your eyes, sadly avoiding getting a mouthful of snow, which you hurriedly swallow. You hear a soft, familiar chuckling behind you, as Sans strolls up.

"Hey buddy, I know you must’ve missed me, but no need to get all _choked up_ over it."

"Oh, har har. Don’t worry, it’s _snow_ problem."

You both break out into stupid giggling, before you eventually sober up, wheezing a little due to the excessive laughter.

"Heh, still, good job on solving it so quickly. You didn’t even need my help, don’t know what bro was complaining about..."

He sighs, before patting your shoulder a little.

"Still, we got a long way to go….hope you’re up to it?"

You grin, giving him a thumbs up.

 

"Hell yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yes, yes, I know, obvious chapter title is obvious. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	12. Dogs and Scary Bridges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we discover that a snow puff may not be what it seems....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Sup guys! I'll still be doing my regular uploads next Tuesday, but just wanted to give everyone a little Valentine's present! •̀.̫•́✧ So, uh, surprise? <3 
> 
> Updates every Tuesday! (and apparently holidays? Eh.)

Sans grins at you, before running on ahead, not that he really needed to – Papyrus wasn’t far away; he was standing over a small swath of grey tiles, with a little machine next to him. Sans still jogged up to take his customary place along side him, hands still buried in his pockets, still wearing a slightly sleepy smile. Papyrus, however, was looking about the same level as excited as when he’d set on eyes on you for the first time; so pretty high levels of excitement.

"Hey! Human! You’re going to love this puzzle! It was made by the great Dr. Alphys!"

_Hmm….could this doctor be the person Toriel’s friend knew?_

You snap back to attention, as Papyrus was still talking in an animated fashion.

"You see these tiles? Once I throw this switch…..they will begin to change colour! Each colour has a different function!"

"That’s….really cool, Papyrus!"

"I know, it is, isn’t it? Well, red tiles are impassable – you cannot walk on them! Yellow tiles are electric – they will electrocute you! Green tiles are alarm tiles – if you step on them….you’ll have to enter a battle with the tile! Orange tiles are orange scented. They will make you smell delicious! Blue tiles are water tiles – swim through if you like, but….if you smell like oranges, the piranhas will bite you. Also, if a blue tile is next to a yellow tile, the water will also zap you! Purple tiles are slippery – you will slide to the next tile. However, the slippery soap….smells like lemons! Which piranhas do not like! Purple and blue are ok. Finally, pink tiles…..they don’t do anything. Step on them all you like! So, human? Do you understand?"

_No. No, you do not._

"Yup, all good over here!"

Why, _why_ did you say that? Papyrus had spoken all the instructions so quickly you’d barely caught a word; something about piranhas? Lemons? Electricity? You figured you’d be ok; you could wing it. It certainly didn’t help that Sans could obviously see your look of confusion/horror, and was currently hiding his face in his hood, in order to muffle his laughter.

"Yup! All ready to go, Papyrus!"

"Great! Then here’s one last thing!"

Oh no.

"This puzzle….is entirely random! When I pull this switch, it will make a puzzle….that has never been seen before! Not even I will know the solution!"

You can swear you can almost see little stars in his eyes he’s so beside himself with excitement – bless him.

"Nyeh heh heh! Get ready-!"

With that, he pulls the switch, jumping up and down in excitement as the mass of tiles burst into colours, a faint beeping noise whirring away as they switched between colours quickly; it almost made you a little dizzy. Sans watched with an unreadable expression; you could tell he was plotting something, but you weren’t quite sure what.

Suddenly, there’s a loud resounding beep as the machine appears to be done calculating the puzzle – the colours slow until then finally stop on…..

A giant pink strip leading from one side, to the other, outlined by red. In other words, a linear path, with no danger whatsoever.

There’s a long silence, as you all stare at the result, dumbfounded. Papyrus throws his hands in the air, before exiting via turning in circles; far more dramatic that just running out – you’re wondering if he’s trying to switch it up a bit. That’s when Sans just loses it, almost falling to the floor with laughter, as you walk across the tiles to meet him, trying to fold your arms in a disapproving way, and failing miserably – I mean, hey, he did save you from piranhas.

"Oh….man! Did you….see his face?! Oh wow….hah hah…."

"Sans, did you have something to do with this, by any chance?"

"Me? _Oh no_ , didn’t do a thing."

You smile, shaking your head, patting his shoulder, which makes him look up from his maniacal laughter.

"Seriously, though. Thanks. I owe you one."

He blushes furiously, before standing up to full height, chuckling nervously.

"Actually, uh, y/n, that spaghetti from earlier….I know you couldn’t eat it, but I’m really proud of him for it, you know? Since he started cooking lessons, he’s been improving a lot. I bet if he keeps it up, someday he’ll be a famous chef, heh."

You know he’s changing the subject out of being bashful, but don’t call him out on it – hey, everyone gets embarrassed.

"Well, I’m really looking forward to trying it! You know, unfrozen."

Sans grins at you, a trace of colour still present on his cheeks, until he suddenly seemed to be unable to handle the bashfulness any more.

"Welp! I’m off to meet up with Papyrus, nice talking to you, see you later, y/n."

Saying this with a comical rush, he turns on his heel and more or less sprints after Papyrus, and for his benefit, you keep your laughter on lock down.

Sighing gently, puffing out a long stream of fog, you try to ignore the fact that your trusty boots have finally started to let in a bit of the icy water; you don’t blame them, to be honest – you’d been walking through these icy woods for hours, you were shocked that they’d lasted as long as they had. Absent-mindedly, you pick up a stick, gently tapping it on tree branches, causing snow to fall to ground with a soft plop.

Ahead of you, you can see a tiny, perfectly made wooden dog’s house, surrounded by round snow puffs. Puzzled by this bizarre scene, you walk up to the little house; and little it was, indeed – it looked almost like a tiny gingerbread house. Then you notice a small sign next to it, which read: **Woof.** Knowing that there seemed to be quite a lot of ‘dog’ monsters around, you had to wonder what this meant. Hello? Go away? Get off my snow lawn? You supposed you never would know, unless you learnt how to speak dog, of course.

Pondering over this conundrum, you start to walk through the sea of snow puffs, careful not to damage any of them; perhaps the sign said please don’t touch my collection of snow puffs, after all. You didn’t want to be rude. That is until, you come across a pretty large one, right in the middle of your path. You consider moving it out of the way, when all of a sudden, a tail raises out of the back, gently wagging. You smile – this must be the owner of the house! You’re about to offer a tiny hello, which suddenly freezes in your throat, as the owner of the tail stands up.

This is a big dog.

A very big dog.

We’re talking Toriel sized dog.

And it was in a suit of armour.

Holding a halberd.

"Oh, uh…..hi….doggy."

Your soul is, expectedly, brought forward, and you can see the just as expected stats above the dog’s head.

**GREATER DOG. HP:105. IT’S THE GREATER DOG.**

Well, that didn’t provide much information, but you could more or less tell that it was….a great, big dog. Swallowing down your surprise ( _how the hell did a dog this size, in armour, fit into a snow puff?!_ )

Suddenly, it occurs to your that you’re still holding the stick from earlier. Experimentally, you hold it aloft, and the dog’s eyes follow it.

"Um...hey boy! Look! Uh…...go….fetch!"

You chuck the stick a few paces away, and the dog bounds over to it, picks it up, and gently places it at your feet, panting happily. Now that it’s a little closer to you, you can see that he’s not so bad – honestly, just a dog….but in armour. Going back to your old strategy, you reach up, and gently pat the dog’s head. The reaction is violent, and instant – the dog flops on top of you, tail a wag, panting with pure joy. But boy, is he _heavy_. Gasping for breath, you continue to pat and rub him, resulting in him licking your face, before rolling off you to expose his belly, which makes you able to finally gasp in a breath; but at his sad whine, you continue with your rubbing, his tail stirring up a flurry of snow. After a while of this, he seems content, and your soul returns. Suddenly the dog stands once again, and…

....jumps out the armour, revealing that…

....he’s a tiny dog. A very tiny dog.

It was the armour that was big….as you’re processing this, the dog casually walks up, licks you on the nose, jumps back into the armour head first, leaving his cute wagging tail as a ‘head’; then the dog/armour clinks away. You’re left standing in some bemused shock, trying to process what happened, and failing miserably – so you decide to just accept it. Though honestly, with all you’ve seen in the Underground, this was truly the most surprising.

Shaking yourself out of your shock, you continue along the path, only to find a bridge – and unlike the other bridges from before, this one seems far from sturdy; in fact, it’s the kind of bridge everyone imagines when thinking of ‘wooden bridge from hell’. The second you place a foot on it, it creaks threatenly, and the wind blows it from side to side as you wobble along; hell, you can even see the abyss the bridge seems to hang over through cracks between the wooden slats. You decide to keep your eyes forward, but oddly, this bridge seems to almost go on forever – you’re walking for a solid 10 minutes, and just as you’re about to give up to ever finding an end, you lay eyes upon the familiar sight of Papyrus and Sans standing at the end of the bridge, on ground, sweet, blessed ground. However, Papyrus suddenly yelling over to you draws you up short.

"Human! This is your final and most dangerous challenge!"

_You mean the bridge wasn’t it?!_

"Behold! The gauntlet of deadly terror!"

"Oh, holy shit..."

You can’t keep back the expletive, as various weapons come into view, all pointed at you, and you have no option of escape, as you’re standing on the bridge from hell. A pillar of fire, at least two harpoon guns, a mace, a canon…..and what looks to be a small white dog, all hang in front of all you, all pointing at you. You look in panic at Sans, who oddly, does not meet your eyes; in fact, he has his eyes shut, only the slightest of grim smiles on his face.

 

_He’s given up on you, just like everyone else._

 

Your breathing becomes faster, as fear truly sets in; you cast pleading eyes at Papyrus, knowing that you would never live through this challenge – that you’d be lucky if the bridge breaks and you fall to your death instead.

"When I say the word, it will fully activate! Cannons will fire! Spikes will swing! Blades will slice! Each part will swing violently up and down! Only the tiniest chance of victory will remain! Are you ready?"

You want to scream no – you want to say something, but you can only stare in complete and utter fear at Papyrus.

"I…..am…..about….to do it!"

There’s a silence, as you and Papyrus lock eyes. Sans suddenly speaks up; his voice blank, something you’d never heard from him.

"Well? What’s the hold up?"

 

_See? Of course he’s given up on you._

 

"Hold up? What hold up? I’m….I’m about…..to activate it now!"

You and Papyrus continue to lock gazes, then Sans finally looks up at you – he isn’t smiling, not even a little, but his voice seems to have something akin to hope in it.

"That….uh….doesn’t look very activated."

Papyrus suddenly draws himself up, taking a deep breath, before looking back at you. You gently close your eyes, and lower you head, ready to accept your fate; or as ready as you’d ever be.

"Well!…...This challenge!…..it seems….maybe….too easy to defeat the human with."

You look up in shock, and with hope, whilst Papyrus seems to be looking off to the side, rubbing the back of his head with a gloved hand. Suddenly he jolts back into his usual, complete confidence.

"Yeah! We can’t use this one! I am a skeleton with standards! My puzzles are very fair! And….and my traps are expertly cooked! But this m-method is too direct. No class at all. Away it goes!"

With that, the various weaponry (and dog) are once again put away, and you can finally _breath_. Both Sans and yourself stare at Papyrus, you with complete relief and thankfulness, and Sans with apparent pride.

"Wh-what are you looking at?! This was another decisive victory for Papyrus!"

You laugh breathlessly, whilst Sans regains his usual smile.

"Thank you, Papyrus."

"I’m proud of you, bro."

Papyrus laughs a little uncertainly, before running off at usual speed. You wobble your way off the remainder of the bridge, falling to your knees when you finally reach level ground; Sans reaches to help you up, but stops in his tracks as you speak up.

"…..did you know he wasn’t going to do it?"

"….I know my brother. He’s not…..violent. But….I worried that the pride of being in the Royal Guard would sway him. It didn’t – he’s still the same old Paps."

"….I was scared."

Sans sighs heavily, before kneeling in the snow beside you, looking you in the face.

"….I promised that you’d be safe, right? That Papyrus wouldn’t hurt you? Look, if something was going to happen, I would have stopped it, ok? I just…..wanted to give him a chance."

You pause, then look up at him, finally meeting his gaze. You don’t see a single lie in it – it’s as honest as it’s ever been. You sigh, then nod.

"Ok. I believe you."

"…thank you."

You both stare at each other for a while, before Sans huffs, standing, and extending a hand.

"C’mon, y/n. Town’s not too far from here – you’ll be able to rest there. I mean, uh…..me ‘n Paps have a house, and uh...you can rest there. I bet Paps would love it, I mean…."

Chuckling at his awkwardness, you accept his hand.

"Sure, sounds good. I’ve been walking for a while now, so a rest would be great."

Sans stops for a second, and sighs, smiling softly. The lights that were his eyes seem to widen a little as they look at you, then he gently shuts them, shaking his head, seeming to have decided something.

"You know what? I think you’ve been through quite enough today. I’m gonna call Paps, then we’ll take a shortcut to home; you can always explore the town tomorrow. That ok with you?"

You nod dumbly, not quite sure why he was going out of his way for you as much as he was, but grateful all the same. He turns away slightly to pull out his phone, dialling a number, and waiting for Papyrus to pick up – and you’re more than sure that it is, in fact, Papyrus, given the fact that you could hear him yelling through the phone.

"Brother! You hardly ever use the phone device. I’m proud of you – this is quite the opposite of lazy."

Sans chuckles lightly.

"Thanks Pap. Um, listen….are you ok?"

"….yes, Sans, why wouldn’t I be?"

You can hear the clear confusion in Papyrus’ voice, which makes both you and Sans sigh in relief; it seemed that the event at the bridge wasn’t weighing on his mind, which was good.

"No reason, bro. Hey, would it be ok if y/n stayed over at our place for a while?"

"…..y/n?"

"Yeah, you know….the human."

"Oh! Wowie! Brother, the human wants to stay?!"

"Yeah. She really wants to try your pasta."

There’s a garbled sound of pure excitement on the other side of the phone, and Sans pulls his face away from the receiver, wincing a little; you’re surprised he hadn’t done so earlier – Papyrus was hardly quiet.

"I take that as a yes."

"I must…..must….head home! And make the perfect friendship pasta!….but…."

There’s a sudden silence, which makes Sans frown.

"Papyrus?"

"….Sans, how can I be friends with a human?"

You feel a crushing disappointment, and Sans’ frown turns sour – he almost seems angry at his brother.

"….what do you mean, Papyrus?"

"I mean….. _Undyne_ ….the human seems so nice! She likes puzzles, and spaghetti, and she’s kind…."

"...Paps. All of those things that you just said mean she’s a good person, right? Maybe that means….she’s not the kind of human that the Royal Guard wants."

There’s another silence on the end of the line, and you try to keep a straight face.

"...you’re right, brother. You’re _right_. The human is a good person! Do you….do you think….she wants to be my friend? I mean….I c-can understand if she doesn’t, but -"

This time you can’t keep a lid on it. You yell as loud as you can, making Sans jump and stare at you in shock.

"Yes! Papyrus, I would love to be your friend!"

There’s a confused ‘nyeh?!’ at the other end of the phone.

"Human?! You heard our conversation?!"

"Yeah, bro, she’s been standing next to me the whole time."

There’s a babble of apologies from Papyrus, as he promises the friendship pasta will truly be the best of friendship pastas….whatever that meant. Sans says a quick goodbye, before hanging up the phone, and giving you a sheepish grin.

"He’s a cool guy, my bro. He devotes himself fully to things….I’m just happy that that won’t mean that he loses sight of who he really is."

"He really is cool – and I’m glad that he wants to be friends. It must be tough for him, though….what if his boss finds out? What if he gets kicked out of the Royal Guard?"

You shuffle your feet a little, looking down – you didn’t want to ruin someone’s dream, just for the sake of being their friend. Sans puffs out a large amount of fog as he huffs out a breath, looking at you determinedly.

"Y/n, that ain’t gonna happen – I won’t let it, don’t you worry. Everything will be fine; you trust me, right?"

You smile tiredly.

"Yeah, I do. I hope you’re right."

"Heh, always am – unless I’m left."

"Well, that joke took a strange direction."

Stupid laughter once again shakes the air, which seemed to be the perfect thing to cut the remaining tension that had been hanging there, though you were still feeling pretty drained; both physically and emotionally. You hadn’t really noticed quite how bad it was until Sans had called attention to it; you’d had a very long day. Sans suddenly rubs the back of his neck, looking a little awkward.

"Hey, uh….I know this is gonna be a little weird, but, don’t think I mean anything bad, and….you’ll be safe? Might just feel a little odd."

You give him a look, eyebrows raised.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Uh, my….my shortcut home."

"...okay?"

"Yeah...oh, sod it. Just…..don’t let go, ok?"

He suddenly wraps his arms around you, surprising you a little – but that small shock was nothing compared to the surprise of suddenly seeing a very, very familiar darkness around you.

 

The Void.

 

But Sans was still there, arms wrapped around you. You were there for the briefest of moments, but you’d been there so much, it was unmistakable. Then, as soon as it had begun, you were suddenly standing in front of a cute wooden building – it almost looked akin to a classic Christmas gingerbread house, or those beautiful chalet you would find on mountains; and it was lovingly adorned with Christmas lights, a tasteful wreath hanging on the front door. And all through your examination, San’s arms were still wrapped around you – he seemed to be waiting for something.

"Uh….Sans?"

He looks at you in surprise, before carefully letting you go, as if he expected you to fall over at any moment.

"Are you….ok, y/n?"

"Yeah? But….did you seriously just teleport?"

You had a vague feeling that your expression was verging on Papyrus level of excitement, but you didn’t really care; this was every one of your science fiction dreams come to life.

"I-I guess so? But, honestly, are you ok? Most people kind of….get sick after."

"I’m ok, honest. But, please, _please_ , tell me how you did that? And don’t just say magic."

Sans openly laughs; not only seeming to be surprised by your lack of reaction, but also happy about your curiosity for the scientific.

"Well, the simplest version is….hmm...well, let’s say reality and space are like a blanket. I simply find a weak point in that blanket, and make a little hole, then make another hole where I want to go….ok, that’s not really simple, but it’s the easiest way of describing it."

You’re pretty sure that your eyes are as wide as dinner plates as he finishes, which makes him blush under the obvious look of awe.

"That is _so cool_. Seriously."

"Heh, thanks….look, are you sure you’re ok? When I say most people, I mean, the few people I’ve ‘ported with have _always_ gotten sick. Or at least gotten so dizzy that they fall over – they have to get used to it. But you’re.... _fine_?"

He looks at you with a thoughtful gaze, and you begrudgingly decide to try to describe why you’re probably ok.

"Well….I think I might have been to that dark place before, you know."

He looks more shocked that you thought that he would – almost on the verge of leaving his mouth hanging open.

"You….y-you have?"

"Well, I can’t be sure, but….hmm, maybe. That might be why I’m ok, I think."

Sans thinks for a long while; you can almost see the gears clinking away in his head – his eye lights burning with curiosity. But eventually, he huffs.

"Hmm. Well, it’s always something we can look into later; it’s interesting, I gotta say. Welp, anyways – welcome to our humble home, y/n."

"It looks lovely; really comforting."

He hums thoughtfully, looking up at the building with pride.

"I helped build this when Paps was just a baby-bones. I’m happy it turned out the way that it did….anyway. C’mon in."

 

And with that, Sans opened the door, ushering you into the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor, poor Reader-chan. (っ◞‸◟c)  
> Still, things are looking up! Sans is trying to help out, though.....hmmmm I woooonder why that is? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	13. Sleepovers and Spaghetti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we encounter the most indescribable of spaghettis....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

Upon entering the house, you can’t help but sigh with relief, earning a smug smile from Sans; he obviously feels proud that you like his home so much.

The interior of the brother’s house is pure comfort, much like Toriel’s, but also very different. The carpeted floor is a deep blue, but not in a tacky way; it was plush and soft underfoot, making you ache to take of your boots and damp socks and bury your feet within it. An antique wooden dining table stands off to the side, oddly holding a plate with a rock set atop it, covered in brightly coloured sprinkles. The room is vaguely open-plan; the living room, which holds the table, leading through an arc into the kitchen. The kitchen itself is quaint; classic tiled floors, a tidy looking waste bin, an oven, fridge, and worktop, and a strangely tall sink with a cupboard underneath – perhaps it was that tall for Papyrus? The living room itself holds a comfortable looking green sofa; comfortable to the point that if you dare to sit upon it, you might never want to get up. Adjacent to it is a widescreen TV, resting upon a wooden TV stand with a convenient small drawer, no doubt full of some kind of entertainment. Next to the sofa is a small wooden table holding a collection of books, which you would probably greedily dive into later; and finally, next to the TV, was the fabled sock that Papyrus had spoken of; completely covered in post-it notes. Up a small flight of stair is a mezzanine level, where two doors could be clearly seen; obviously the bedrooms. Another door was under the stairs, which could perhaps be a storage cupboard, or perhaps a bathroom; though you didn’t know why a pair of skeletons would need such a thing….maybe they liked to have clean bones?

All in all, it was a lovely, snug home.

"It’s great, Sans – you did really well on this place!"

"Heh, I guess so. Papyrus is usually the one that decorates, though; he has very particular tastes."

There’s suddenly an almighty crash behind the two of you as the door bursts open, making you jump out of your skin, though Sans seems to be quite used to this kind of entrance; as the person bursting through was none other than Papyrus.

"Human! You’re here!"

You’re unexpectedly wrapped up in a tight hug, which lifts you up off the ground, making you squeak.

"I’m so sorry! I would love to be your friend, human. Please accept my sorrowful hug."

"I….accept….but….Papyrus….I can’t _breathe_..."

"Oh!"

He promptly puts you down, patting your back as you cough and wheeze, Sans not even bothering to hide his laughter, which makes Papyrus fix a glare on him.

"Sans! Have you properly welcomed the human into our home?"

"Yeah bro."

"Argh! You still have not picked up your sock! What on earth will the human think of your slovenly ways?!"

"Oh, Papyrus, it’s quite alright, I don’t think -"

"It’s not alright, human. Sans, you should know better! Pick it up!"

"Ok."

"Right now!"

"Ok."

"….Brother, I do not see you moving. Pick. Up. Your. Sock."

"….Ok."

When Sans continues to simply stand there in his usual relaxed fashion, Papyrus ‘nyehs’ in frustration, attempting to push him towards the sock – Sans simply becomes a dead weight, falling to the ground, a relaxed expression still etched upon his features. Papyrus continues to push, rolling his brother’s body along the carpet, until Sans is directly next to the fabled sock.

"Sans! I have moved you into appropriate sock retrieving length. Pick! It! Up!"

"…."

"Sans…."

"...Ok."

At this point Papyrus finally gives up, throwing his hands in the air with a frustrated shriek, before turning quickly to you.

"I’m so sorry, human. I shall now start on making the finest of spaghetti for our dinner! And Sans! Please retrieve sleeping blankets for the human."

"….Ok."

With one final glare in Sans’ general direction, Papyrus makes his way to the kitchen, banging pots and pans around in his frustration. Sans slowly gets up, his shoulders shaking from silent laughter, before heaving a happy sigh.

"So, are you happy with the couch? We do have a spare room, but, uh….it’s kinda empty. As in, no bed."

"Yeah, a sofa is kinda preferred if the other option is the floor."

"Thought you might say that – be back in a sec."

Sans then suddenly just disappears, as in, blips completely out of existence. You know by now, of course, that he can teleport, but it doesn’t make it any less startling to see in person. But before you knew it, he blipped back in front of you, now holding a few squishy pillows and blankets.

"Uh...wow, it’s different actually seeing it."

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Sans! Are you being lazy and not bothering to walk up the stairs _again_?!"

Papyrus has stuck his head through the archway leading to the kitchen, narrowing his eyes at Sans.

"….no?"

Papyrus sighs, then looks at you with apologetic eyes.

"Again, I am sorry human."

"Oh, don’t worry, Papyrus – I’m sure that Sans’ methods are _bound to get him somewhere_."

Both brothers think on your statement for a while, before Sans laughs delightedly, and Papyrus groans.

"Sans! Look what you’ve done! The human is now infected with your terrible puns!"

"Bro, trust me, she was like this when I met her – she’s always been _punny_."

Papyrus face palms, before returning to the kitchen, leaving you and Sans giggling in the most mature of fashions. Sans gently plopped the soft mass of covers by the side of the couch, before sinking into it, sighing happily, and kicking off his slippers with little care where they landed; something else to annoy Papyrus, no doubt. Shaking your head at his antics, you gently take off your shoes, and place them by the door. Frowning at your damp socks, you also remove them, before placing them over the top of your boots, so they would at least have some time to dry out.

"Hey Sans?"

"’Sup."

"Can I hang my coat up by the door?"

"Sure bud, knock yourself out."

You peel off your coat, happy that it’s nice and warm inside the house – you ponder for a second what you should do with your gloves, before shrugging and peeling them off to put in the pockets of your coat; and that’s when, finally, you hear a scoffing noise behind you – it seemed that Sans had finally noticed the gloves. You steeled yourself before turning around, hoping that he would at least just find it amusing, and not offensive.

"Whoa, uh, cool gloves you got t-there."

What you didn’t expect is for him to be blushing, covering his face slightly.

"Oh….thank you? I’m sorry if….you find them offensive, or something. They’re just my favourite gloves, and I didn’t think that -"

"H-hey, it’s ok. I don’t…..find them offensive."

He’s looking away, still blushing – was wearing the gloves something perverse? You really hoped not.

"I’m sorry…."

"Hey, no, like I said, don’t worry ‘bout it. C’mon, take a sit."

He pats the sofa space next to him, smiling in a sheepish manner, a slight blush still on his cheeks. Sighing, you take up his offer, and immediately groan at the perfect comfort of the couch.

"Oh my god. Sleeping here tonight is going to be the best."

"Heh, I know, right? I fall asleep here all the time – Paps kinda forgives it though, oddly. As long as I get up for breakfast."

He frowns grumpily.

"I’m not a morning kinda guy."

"Oh? To be honest, I’m a night owl, as well as an early bird – I uh…."

You stop, not really wanting to say about the nightmares you have; Sans gives you look, but apparently decides to let it pass.

"Yeah, this couch is the total best. Even Paps has to agree – right Paps?"

The last bit he yells to the kitchen, prompting Papyrus to stick his head out.

"I’m sorry Sans – what did you say?"

"That this couch is the best."

"Oh yes – truly perfect for watching Mettaton!"

You look in a confused manner at both Sans and Papyrus.

"Who...or what….is Mettaton?"

Papyrus practically sparkles, whilst Sans groans in annoyance, seemingly.

"Mettaton is the star of the Underground! The pinnacle of acting and entertainment! He also does a very unique cooking show – oh, which reminds me. I must get back to my craft!"

With that, he disappears, and you turn to Sans for his opinion.

"He’s….well, Papyrus loves him, as you can see, but his acting is terrible, and he puts glitter on _everything._ Even the things on his ‘cooking’ show."

"Oh, uh, wow."

Sans seems to sink deeper into the couch, grumbling.

"We watch him every night. I can’t stand the bucket of bolts, but Papyrus loves him – and I can’t….I can’t say no to Paps, heh."

Sans smiles softly; he really loves his little brother, you could tell. He hums to himself, looking at you inquisitively.

"So, what TV stars do you have on the surface?"

Now it was your turn to blush; you’d never had enough money to have access to a TV – so you didn’t really have any idea who was who, or who did what. The only kind of ‘entertainment’ you knew was from the internet, and you didn’t quite have the bravery to describe what a ‘keyboard cat’ was to Sans.

"Um…….I….uh..."

"Dinner is served!"

_Saved by the bell. Oh, thank you, sweet Papyrus._

Without another word, you leap from the sofa, heading to the table, and leaving a confused Sans in your wake. Or at least you thought you had, before you see him blip into one of the chairs at the table, grinning a Cheshire cat smile at you. Papyrus, however, is not amused.

"Sans!"

"What? I’m hungry."

"And walking would be too much effort?!"

"Spends too much energy."

"...Sans, you and I both know it takes far more energy to use magic than to walk."

"Huh, perhaps you’re right."

He then says nothing else, merely smiling at Papyrus, who eventually concedes, gripping his nose bridge (well, whatever he had that served as one, anyway) in exasperation. You sit as politely as you can, as Papyrus hands out plates with a massive serving of pasta to both you and Sans. You had to admit; you were starving. You stomach rumbled loudly, causing both Sans and Papyrus to look at you in surprise.

"Human! Does my spaghetti upset you?"

"Um, no? It looks really good, to be honest."

You stomach grumbles loudly once again.

"Then....why do you keep growling at it?"

You look at them both, confused, their faces mirroring yours, until you start to laugh.

"Oh no! Sorry, that’s a normal thing for humans when we get hungry."

Both brothers look at you in surprise, though Sans’ face quickly turns to fascination.

"Why does it do that?"

"Well, it basically has to do with a process called digestion – the human body breaks down food into liquids, and sometimes pockets of air get trapped in this process; those air pockets are what causes the noises. When you’re hungry, your stomach contracts, which makes the air pockets disperse faster, making the noises louder….that’s the simple version, anyway. It’s a process called ‘peristalsis’, if you want the scientific name."

Papyrus holds an expression of normal interest – but Sans’ face is basically shining with enthusiasm and excitement.

"Can I uh….listen to it?"

"Sans! We’re eating! Save your curiosity for a more appropriate time."

"Sorry bro…."

He looks so suddenly deflated, you feel the need to speak up.

"Hey, it’s ok – it’ll make noises after I eat too. You can always hear it then, if you want."

Sans’ eye lights widen, as does his smile, as he mouths a silent ‘thank you’ at you, with you return with a ‘you’re welcome’. With that, you all settle down to eat. The pasta looks and smells amazing – rich tomato sauce, perfectly coating the noodles, all covered with a generous amount of parmesan. Carefully winding your fork into the mass, and getting a generous forkful, you take your first bite, and moan with happiness. The taste is so delicious, it’s indescribable.

"So, human….what do you think?"

You can only look at Papyrus with awe, and his face instantly brightens.

"You….really like it that much, human?"

You nod slowly, and Papyrus turns back to his own pasta, a slight orange blush upon his cheeks, giving a quiet, happy ‘nyeh’. Sans smiles at you, and shockingly, his plate is completely empty. You stare with mute awe at him, and the plate, and he shrugs.

"What can I say? Paps’ cooking is the best."

Papyrus seems to blush further with happiness, hurriedly digging into his pasta. You smile, following suit, enjoying every single mouthful as if you’d never eat again.

As you chew, you find your gaze once again falling upon the rock in the centre of the table, covered in sprinkles; as in, the ones that you would often expect on a cake.

"Uh, so….what’s the story with the rock?"

"That is Sans’ pet rock – which he never feeds!"

"C’mon bro, he’s got enough sprinkles there for a lifetime."

"Rocky needs fresh sprinkles everyday Sans, you know this very well!"

"….you called….your pet rock….Rocky?"

Sans winks at you, as you unsuccessfully fight back your giggles.

"Yeah, good huh?"

"Well, I have to admit, it’s a pretty _solid_ name."

"Gotta say, picking a name was a _hard_ decision to make."

"….OH MY GOD."

Papyrus suddenly shrieking makes you jump, almost dropping your fork, whilst Sans chortles. Papyrus quickly apologises to you, and you finish your meal in relative silence, if you discount Sans’ gentle laughter as a backdrop.

Once you’d all cleaned your respective plates, Papyrus excitedly starts to talk about Mettaton, and how his show would be on in about 2 hours….

"….so we have time for at least one board game! This will be a sleepover extravaganza!"

For a second, you wonder if you’d be out of line for using his nickname, but decide to do it anyway; as you’ve always said to Gaster, nicknames are the foundations of friendship.

"That sounds wonderful, Paps. But is it ok if I make a phone call first?"

There’s a short silence, where both brothers give you dumbfounded looks, which quickly turn into happy ones.

"Human…! You….used my nickname!"

"...yes?"

You’re scooped up quickly, before you can even register what’s happening; but at least Papyrus had learnt from earlier, and was holding you a little less crushingly.

"Human, this is wonderful! The….first step of true friendship!"

He lets you go, eyes still shining.

"Please, do make your phone call, human. I shall prepare the board game!"

You smile, and make your way to the kitchen; it would be relatively private, not that you minded, really. Just as you’re bringing out you phone, Sans casually pops his head in.

"Hey, uh….just wanted to say thanks, for giving Paps a chance. It means a lot to him that you’re his friend, y/n."

"I wanted to be his friend from the start, remember? I just hope that he eventually knows me as something other than ‘human’!"

Sans chuckles, before retreating to give you back your relative privacy.

You turn on your phone, quickly tapping into the phone book, and dialling Toriel’s number. She picks up on the second ring; she must have been waiting by the phone.

"My child! Are you alright?"

"Hi….and yes, I’m really ok, actually. Really tired, but that’s because I’ve been walking for hours; I’m in Snowdin, with some friends I made."

"Oh, y/n, I’m so glad! Did you meet up with my friend outside the door?"

"Uh….I’m not sure, to be honest? The guys I met, Sans and Papyrus, are the sentries for Snowdin -"

"Oh my!"

"Oh no, don’t worry, like I said, they’re my friends; they’re really looking out for me, they’re letting me stay over on their couch and everything! And Papyrus is an amazing chef. But I’m not sure if Sans is your friend or not….he’s been taking care of me, though."

"Well, regardless, as long as you’re safe, my child….things are fine here, too – though Napstablook seems to miss you. He was happier when I mentioned you’d be heading to Snowdin, though; he apparently lives in a place called Waterfall, which is quite close by."

"That’s good; I was really worried he’d be sad….I’m glad he’s ok."

"Do not worry, my child; all is well."

"We’re all going to play some boardgames in a minute; though I’m not really sure what ones…."

"I’m sure you will have a wonderful time, y/n. Just relax, and be yourself; I’m sure everyone will love you just as much as the residents in the Ruins."

You tear up a little.

"Thank you, mum."

"It is quite alright, my child – chin up! You’re strong, and a wonderful person – I have faith in you. Now, it is quite late for me, as you know; I will have to head off to bed."

"I’ll keep you updated, don’t worry."

"I shall wait for your next call, my child – please be careful."

"Don’t worry – I will!"

You say your goodbyes, and hang up, before clutching the phone to your chest, swallowing back tears. You knew that Toriel was just a phone call away, and you still felt a little scared….but at least you had friends here now, and it seemed that at least the dog monsters liked you. You straighten, regaining your confidence, before you stride into the living room. Papyrus and Sans both look up as you enter; Papyrus is smiling in excitement, whilst Sans’ smile seems to hold a little concern – perhaps he might’ve heard you sniffling. But no matter – you were ok now, so it was fine.

"Human! I have picked out our finest board game; mystery! Drama! It’s called….Cluedo!"

You laugh out of surprise; you hadn’t expected such a familiar game to be chosen – to be honest, you’d expected an unfamiliar monster game.

"Sounds great! Though, I gotta warn you; I’m a master at this game."

Papyrus gasps in more excitement; you were a little concerned that he would one day explode with the level of such emotions, though it seemed that Sans felt no such concern. In fact, Sans had seemed to grin with such competitive confidence at your statement, you felt just the tiniest bit threatened; before grinning back – you were the master, after all!

So you all sat down on the floor, crowded around the board, Papyrus still holding an air of childish excitement, whilst you and Sans eyeballed each other, both of you ready, it seemed, to win in the most ruthless way possible. Papyrus seemed to sense this, so he picked out the suspect, weapon, and room card, before sliding them snugly into the secret envelope. The cards are dealt, the weapons placed in their respective rooms, and you all pick your characters; Papyrus chooses Colonel Mustard, Sans Reverend Green, with you choosing Miss Scarlet. And with that, the game begins; Sans seems to always know which cards to steal off you, but you play close attention and tick off your list carefully – the two of you are so busy glaring at each other, you don’t seem to notice Papyrus, until it’s too late.

"Human! Brother! I believe I know who committed this foul deed!"

You both look at him in surprise.

"I believe that it was Professor Plum, in the ballroom, with the rope!"

The cards are gently pulled out of the envelope, revealing that Papyrus is perfectly correct. He yells in triumph, as you applaud, and Sans congratulates him.

"This is the first time I’ve won! Brother! It must have been because you were so distracted by the human’s antics, nyeh heh heh!"

"Heh, maybe bro. It certainly didn’t leave me feeling _board._ "

"Well, I don’t know, loosing might have put me in a slightly _murderous_ anger."

"Aw, c’mon – no need to be _green_ with envy."

"ENOUGH!"

Papyrus more or less flips the board to break the pun chain, making you and Sans burst into stupid giggles, whilst he sighs, and gently puts the game away. The time it took for the game to reach completion is perfect; Papyrus’ beloved TV show was close to starting. So you and Sans took your places upon the sofa, while Papyrus whipped up a bowl of ‘corn that pops’. You yawn slightly, sinking into the sofa happily, whilst Sans regards you with interest. Before he can even ask, you try to satisfy his curiosity.

"It happens when you’re tired. Basically, exhaustion increases brain temperature, so yawning kind of combats that. But you know, it’s not limited to humans; anything with a spine yawns."

Sans eyes brighten with fascination.

"Well, monsters do yawn as well, I guess I didn’t think humans did….and obviously I’m kinda all spine."

He grins, making you laugh. His curiosity hadn’t quite waned yet, you could tell from the way his eye-lights followed you, and you remembered your promise at dinner.

"Sure, go ahead. I did promise, after all."

It seems he doesn’t need much invitation; he gently lays his head against your stomach, obviously listening for a moment, before his face lights up, and he chuckles with fascination.

"Heh….it really does sound like growling! So weird…...what’s that thumping sound?"

"Oh, uh, that would probably be my heartbeat; it pumps blood around my body – kinda runs the whole machine that is me."

He sits up, his eye-lights wide.

"You can actually feel it through my skin, you know – here."

You gently touch your wrist, then offer it to him. He tentatively presses his fingers down in the spot you showed, before his face becomes kind of blank, as he feels your pulse.

"Whoa….that’s really cool. Huh, so you guys really do have a skeleton underneath your skin…."

"Haha, yeah. Actually, thinking about it, it must be kinda weird for you?"

"Not really? Papyrus has a theory that all humans originate from skeletons, anyways."

At this, you both openly laugh, as Sans withdraws his hand a little shyly, and Papyrus enters the room, buttery popcorn in hand. He snuggles down in the centre of the couch, turning on the TV with a rapt expression, whilst Sans gives you a look meaning something along the lines of ‘prepare yourself’.

 

Nothing could have prepared you for the next two hours.

 

Every show was Mettaton; as in, every actor was Mettaton. On the few ‘talk shows’, Mettaton would simply choose an audience member and get them to spill their darkest secrets, but every short film, every advert, every other thing consisted of Mettaton, and nothing but. And the crux of it was, Sans was not kidding about him being a bad actor – for Mettaton was a mechanical box, on a single wheel. True, his voice was incredibly pantomime dame, but it wasn’t quite enough to make up for his….box-ness.

An hour in, you look over to Sans for help, only to see him fast asleep; or at least pretending to be, as you swore you could see his shoulders shaking with laughter at your pained expression. Papyrus, however, seemed to love every second of those two hours, oohing and ahhing at every moment of drama, completely focused. It was enough for you to put up with it; you could more than understand Sans’ point of view now – every moment of hell was worth the look of happiness on Papyrus’ face.

After the shows ended, Papyrus started to clap, which seemed to wake Sans up instantaneously (very suspicious) as he clapped along.

"Magnificent! Another wonderful show from the glorious Mettaton! Did you like it, human?"

He turns to you with expectant eyes; normally, you were not one for lying, not even a little, but outwardly saying how much you hated it would no doubt upset Papyrus – so surely bending the truth a little wouldn’t hurt too much?

"It was pretty good! His voice is very expressive! I, uh, don’t quite understand why he put so much glitter in that cake mixture, though…."

Papyrus nods in agreement, much to your surprise.

"Quite right, human! But it’s not his fault; though he is indeed an amazing actor, he isn’t quite up to master chef Papyrus’ standards! Nyeh heh heh!"

Sans gives a small stretch, before tapping Papyrus on the shoulder.

"Hey Paps, I think y/n would like to hit the hay…..well, couch….about now. She’s had a long day. Ready for bed?"

"Yes brother! Human! I shall see you in the morning!"

"Goodnight Papyrus – I hope you sleep well."

He nyehs happily, before climbing the stairs and entering the first door – which would mean the other one was Sans’? Speaking of, you felt him gently tap your shoulder.

"Hey, uh, the bathroom’s under the stairs; shower, bath, all that jazz. Hope you sleep well."

"I’m sure I will – like I said earlier, this couch is heaven. I hope you sleep well, too!"

It might be just your imagination, but it seems San’s smile wavers for a second.

"Yup. See ya in the morning, y/n."

With that, he blips out, presumably to his bedroom. Gathering your things from your phone, you go through your nightly routine of face washing and teeth brushing, changing into your pyjamas (which despite Toriel’s protests, was still a t-shirt and jogging bottoms), before setting up the pillows and blankets on the couch, turning out the living room light, and snuggling in. Before you know it, your eyes are slowly drifting shut, and your last thoughts ponder what….

 

….the town of Snowdin would be like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the skeleton household, reader-chan ;) Honestly, I haven't played Cluedo in freakin' years....╮(╯-╰”)╭
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	14. The Town of Snowdin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we have the grand tour....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

_You open your eyes to the familiar void, and immediately yell for your first monster friend._

" _Gaster! You there?"_

_He pops up, a curiously sad expression upon his face; curious in the fact that while he looks sad, he also looks incredibly happy._

" _Y/n, how lovely it is to see you."_

" _Nice to see you too! You know, it’s weird – I actually came by the Void conscious earlier, though it was very brief."_

" _Yes, I did see, for the brief moment that you were here. Did it feel….different, to how it is when you’re asleep?"_

" _No, it didn’t, actually…."_

_He hums with his usual scientific curiosity, while you look at him with a little bit of concern._

" _Dings, are you feeling ok? You looked a little sad earlier."_

_He stops his thoughtful humming, and seemed to be choosing his words very carefully; though for whatever reason, you did not know._

" _I….I saw you walking through those snowy paths, and it brought back some memories, that was all. You’ll love the town of Snowdin, however, so do not worry."_

" _Did you used to live there?"_

_He frowns a little, again seeming to choose his words with care._

" _Yes...and no. I did a lot of work…..far too much work. I should have enjoyed what I had, while I could….but I suppose that is what they call regret, isn’t it?"_

" _Don’t worry – I’m sure we’ll find you a way out of here! Then you’ll be able to appreciate all those things that you appreciate more now….and, now that I’m on the outside of the Ruins, I might be able to find out some more information to help!"_

_He smiles gently at you in appreciation._

" _Thank you, y/n. I hope you’re correct."_

" _I am, and you know it! Anyway, I was wondering, do you know of this doctor that Toriel’s friend knows? Come to think of it, I still have no idea who that friend is…."_

" _Uh, well, yes – I believe she may be able to help you with your problem, or at the very least investigate it."_

_He seems a little flustered all of a sudden; you decide not to push it. Gaster was a private person, and when he chose to tell you things, it was with great confidence, and only when he felt ready to – you were not about to betray that trust._

" _Th_ _at’s good to hear. Although we both know that you’re the one who’s itching to try to figure it out."_

_He laughs good-naturedly._

" _Very true. Not that I can do all that much, but I can watch when investigations are finally being made, and give you my advice."_

" _That’s more than enough."_

_He smiles at you kindly, before sighing._

" _As much as I adore our chats, my dear y/n, you’ve had a terribly long day, and though you’re unconscious, I doubt something akin to vivid lucid dreaming is going to help with your rest. Please, withdraw to true sleep for now; I’m not going anywhere anytime soon."_

" _Heh, ok. It’s probably a good idea….I’ll talk to you tomorrow – hopefully I’ll have a slightly more restful day."_

_You start to withdraw, waving goodbye, before retreating into your usual sleep._

_Not that that’s ever very restful._

 

You awake with a jerk and a groan, covering your face and shaking away the last dream you’d experienced. You look around yourself, noticing that the house was silent, but daylight was streaming in through the windows – it was then that you saw the note laid gently at the foot of the sofa/bed.

 

_Human! It is I, your great friend, Papyrus! I have left for early training with Undyne and sentry duty – I will not betray your secret, or our friendship, don’t you worry! I’ve had a long think, and you are far too nice a person for the Royal Guard to be interested in – surely they only want the bad humans! Anyway, on to business. I have left Sans to boondoggle in his room for once, so that you will have some company for the day – he will not wake up unless you shake him, usually, so do not feel afraid to do so!…..From Papyrus_

 

You chuckle to yourself, partly at how nice Papyrus is, and how he actually wrote the word ‘boondoggle’ - something which you still did not know the meaning of, but assumed it was something along the lines of ‘lazy’.

Deciding to yourself that instead of shaking Sans awake, you might be able to make breakfast instead, you wander into the kitchen to poke around. Feeling pleased, you find a more than plentiful supply of the ingredients that you need for pancakes, and the most perfect of frying pans to create the joyful breakfast. You whip up your self raising flour, milk, eggs, sugar, and the liquid magic, leaving it to ‘rest’ while you oil up the pan and bring it to the right heat. Pancake after pancake is flipped and put onto a large platter, ready for serving; you don’t make too many however, just enough for three for Sans (as he said he wasn’t a morning person; perhaps it would cheer him up a little?) and two for you – you stow the rest of the mixture in the fridge, hoping that you’ll be able to make some for Papyrus tomorrow. You put your pan into the sink to soak (though admittedly you have to climb up on a chair to reach it; short you were not, but Papyrus was pretty damn tall), and dress Sans’ pancakes with a chunk of butter ( _that was traditional, right?_ ), before grabbing a fork and carrying it up the stairs. Making your way along past Papyrus’ door (which, upon closer inspection, had the warnings ‘No Girls Allowed’, ‘No Boys Allowed’, ‘Papyrus Allowed’), you stand in front of what you assumed was Sans’ door, gently tapping the wood, softly saying,

"Sans?"

There’s a sound of rustling covers, and a soft groan.

"Can I come in? I, ah, made breakfast?"

There’s more rustling, and a grunted affirmation. You open the door, entering the dark room, making sure you step over the ‘sock collection’ that Papyrus mentioned. San’s room is pretty normal, to be honest; aside from the fact that he’s sleeping on a mattress, and that he’s quite untidy. There’s a generous in-the-wall wardrobe, a drawer (many of the drawers left open), and a side table containing a lamp. There seemed to be books everywhere, as well as socks and clothes – you even spotted a sock hanging from the lamp. The man himself was curled up in a ball on his ‘bed’, still clutching a pillow, looking a classic grump. You decided to hold out your peace offering.

"I made fluffy pancakes? For you? Breakfast in bed?"

His face brightened a little at that, his eye lights hazy, which is obviously what seemed to happen when he was sleepy.

"Thanks, y/n. ‘appreciate it."

Taking the plate, he takes a mouthful, which frankly fascinates you, as you’ve actually never seen him eat before; where did it go? Did he have a tongue, or did it get dissolved automatically? You’re broken out of your thought process by Sans sighing appreciatively.

"Hey, this is really good! Thank you, y/n, really helps a lot."

"I’m glad it’s ok! Would you like some coffee as well, or something?"

"Nah, it’s ok, I’ll be down in a bit. But seriously, these are really good."

You laugh lightly, sure that you’re blushing, before retreating out of his room, making your way back down to the table to eat your own breakfast, which you drizzle with golden syrup before taking a bite with a happy hum. Before long, Sans’ door swings open, and he sleepily makes his way down, carrying his plate and fork (apparently dirty plates were too much mess for his room). Yawning, he places them in the sink (which you feel quite jealous at; sure, he had to stand a little on his toes, but he didn’t have to use a chair), before reaching into the fridge, and bringing out a bottle of ketchup, and sitting down at the table next to you. Before you can ask why he has ketchup, he takes a quick swig, turning to you with a slightly smug expression as he notices your pure shock.

"…..never seen a guy drink ketchup before, eh?"

"…..no? I mean, I guess it’s not crazy weird….I drink tomato juice sometimes, which is more or less ketchup with no sugar or vinegar….I think?"

Sans shrugs, taking another swig. You turn your attention back to your pancakes, whilst surreptitiously regarding his version of pj’s, which were incredible similar to yours, if you added in the slippers he was wearing yesterday. What was more fascinating was that you could now see his arms, or rather, see through them; not that you really knew what you’d expected, as he was a skeleton monster. Still, he wasn’t built like a human skeleton, not even a little – if anything, his ‘figure’ resembled the lean build of a swimmer; true, you could see clear spaces between his ulna and radius, but he was somehow much….bulkier than what you would expect. Pushing your thoughts aside, you finish up your pancakes, stretching, your back and shoulders cracking loudly, before you scoop up your plate, then upon realising that you’d have to use a chair to get up to the sink to wash up, you turn back to the table. Sans is sitting bolt upright staring at you, eye lights wide, a furious blush on his face.

"Uh….are you ok?"

He hurriedly grabs the ketchup, gulping down a huge amount, before coughing erratically.

"* _cough*_ Yup! Just * _cough*_ fine!’"

You raise an eyebrow at him, confused, but decide not to chase it up; instead, you drag a chair over the sink, or start to, before Sans stands up suddenly.

"Hey, uh, no, it’s ok – I’ll wash up. You cooked, after all."

"Are you sure?"

"No, I’m Sans."

You laugh, before agreeing and heading to have your shower. Gathering your things and a clean set of your clothes, you head to the bathroom, and jump joyfully into the stream of hot water. You chuckle as you wash your hair, noticing that the only two soaps in the shower were both called ‘bone glow’; though you weren’t sure what you were expecting. The flavours were different, one for each brother - ‘intoxicating orange’ and ‘pine needle breeze’. You hurriedly scrub away, stepping out and wrapping your hair in a towel, drying yourself before getting dressed back into your comfiest jeans (they seemed to fair quite well against the snow) and another t-shirt that you found amusing - ‘Who was the idiot that passed up the chance to call astronomers ‘skyentists’’. You brush your teeth, before gathering your things back into your phone, and stepping out, seeing that Sans was dressed, but fast asleep on the sofa, apparently unable to resist the lure of the pillow and blanket pile you’d left out.

Laughing softly to yourself, you gently poke his side, which results in a grunt and nothing more. Oddly, he doesn’t feel like a skeleton; you swear you poke familiar squishiness that sides often had….but you guessed that it had something to do with magic. Not really wanting to use Papyrus’ foolproof method of shaking, you quickly fetch the bottle of ketchup left on the table, and hold it under his ‘nose’, silently laughing. His eyes slowly creep open, and he frowns at you with a slightly disapproving expression (though you could still see the glimmer of humour within his eye-lights).

"Did you honestly think that would wake me up?"

"Well, you do seem to like it a lot. So I guess you were just chilling?"

"Yup. And I was waiting to see what you’d resort to for ‘waking’ me. Ketchup must be an all time low for me."

"It kind of worked?"

"It was a pity wake up."

"Aww."

Sitting up with a sigh, he gently folds the blankets and pillows and places them by the side of the couch, before looking at you expectantly.

"So, Papyrus has given me the momentous task of showing you around Snowdin."

You pause, then laugh suddenly, all of a sudden getting something you missed.

"What?"

"Oh my god! Snowdin! Like….’snowed in’! Because…."

You giggle ridiculously, whilst Sans chuckles softly, regarding you with a small smile.

"Pretty good, eh? I didn’t come up with it, though, so I can’t claim credit for such a perfect pun; naw, the king is terrible at coming up with names. Once you see the other parts of the Underground, you’ll get how bad he actually is."

You smile at him ruefully, before starting to put on your boots, now that the sofa was free for you to sit down; and you were extremely happy to find that your socks were perfectly dry and back to their soft and fluffy state. You then look at Sans a little worriedly, thinking about your gloves, and he frowns at you with a confused expression.

"What’s up?"

"Um….well….do you have any gloves...I could borrow?"

A slight blue tinge runs across his cheeks, but he appears to be thinking it over.

"You know, I think I do have some going spare. Be a sec."

He blips away, and you hear movement up in his room, before he blips back, holding out a pair of dark blue felt gloves; perfect for the cold weather. You smile in thanks for pulling them on, and snuggling into your jacket, as Sans puts on his.

"Hey, doesn’t Papyrus get cold? I mean, he just wears his armour, no coat or anything…."

"Heh, don’t worry ‘bout it; I wear this ‘cause I like it…..the cold just goes _straight through us._ "

"Hahaha, oh dear! Gotta say, I really do find your jokes _humerus,_ and I would never tell a _fibula._ "

Sans just stares at you, awe on his face.

"Holy crap, y/n, you just double punned. Good job. _Tibia_ honest, I don’t think I can top that."

Both giggling, you head out the front door, which Sans locks behind you.

"Well, our house is on the outskirts of the town…..well, kinda outskirts. I mean, it’s 2 minutes away, but yeah, you get the idea."

By their house are two mailboxes, one practically bursting with mail, whilst one is empty and tidy, by the looks of it – you can more or less guess who’s is who’s. Sans, who had been watching you gaze intently, chuckles a little. He starts to walk on ahead, and you hurry to catch up; his legs were a lot longer than yours, after all.

"Hey, what can I say – I get a lot of spam mail. Anyways, this here is Grillby’s – best restaurant in the Underground. Papyrus won’t step foot in it though; says the food is too greasy."

Grillby’s is an attractive wooden building with warm character; soft yellow lights could be seen through the fogged up glass, but that was all you could see from your passing glance.

"Let me guess….they don’t serve Italian food."

"Well, I reckon’ Grillbz would make pasta for him, but I think he’d rather cook for himself."

"Hopefully he won’t be too offended if I make dinner!"

"Heh, I’m sure he’d love it, y/n."

His cheeks go a little flushed, as he rubs the back of his neck.

"…..I’d like to try it too, obviously."

You laugh while Sans looks away bashfully. He gestures wildly to the next building.

"This is the library; lots of good reads, lots of info, if you want it."

You look up at the quaint blue and white building, frowning slightly.

"But….but it says…."

"Yeah, I know. ‘Librarby’. One year the kids of Snowdin repainted it as a nice thing for the community – sadly their spelling wasn’t quite up to scratch. But hey, intentions were good, kinda adds character, don't cha think?"

"Well, now that I know the story behind it, yup!"

It now seems that you’re more or less at the centre of town – there’s a beautifully adorned Christmas tree, surrounded by the town’s inhabitants, socialising and laughing. For the merest of seconds, you feel a little nervous, but when everyone starts to wave at you and Sans, happily wishing you ‘good afternoon’ without so much as a blink, you relax. Obviously most of the monsters didn’t know what a human even looked like; perhaps, in time, they would come to know you as one and accept you anyway, just as Sans and Papyrus had, just as all the monsters back in the Ruins had….there was some hope, anyway.

Suddenly you huff, as some sort of mass smacks you straight in the middle and you tumble backwards. Sans looks startled, before instantly relaxing, shaking his head in exasperation.

"MK, what have you been told about running about without looking? Eh, you ok there, y/n?"

You give a quick thumbs up, not quite trusting you voice not to sound winded at present. You look down at your middle, seeing a very sheepish looking yellow monster child; he seemed to be something a little like a lizard, with big, sweet looking eyes and a cheeky smile – though it appeared he didn’t have any arms, which might account for his apparent clumsiness.

"Sorry, Mr. Serif! I’ll be more careful…..are you, uh, ok miss?"

You chuckle, patting him on the head gently.

"I’m quite alright – are you ok? Got quite the take down ability there, kid."

He grins, revealing an adorable gap in his teeth. Sans meanwhile sighs.

"Hey, you don’t have to call me that, MK – it’s Sans, remember? And this here is y/n."

Sans gently picks MK off of you, and you dust yourself off.

"Ok! See you guys later – sorry again, miss y/n!"

With that, he speeds off again, clearly ignoring Sans’ advice, which doesn’t seem to upset him in the least; MK’s behaviour was clearly a ‘running’ trend. Grinning at you, Sans walks you through the centre, the lights of the tree bright and inviting.

"Hehe, well….Mr. Serif?"

Sans flushes slightly, a grimace on his features.

"Yup, that would be the last name – don’t like being called it, though. Just makes me feel like my dad, heh..."

His features shift into an expression nearing sadness, so you quickly change the subject.

"So, is it near to Christmas? I, uh, didn’t realise..."

"Nah, no where close, don’t worry. We just keep this up because it’s cheerful and happy, y’know? Oh, and, just a note? We call it ‘Gyftmas’."

"….Gyftmas?….should I ask….why?"

"Probably best to leave it as a story for another time, bud – unless you wanna get into why you call it, ‘Christmas’?"

You chuckle slightly, shaking your head; it was probably better to just accept the cultural differences for now.

"So….how am I supposed to know if it’s close when there’s an eternal ‘Gyftmas’ tree?"

"Heh, don’t worry – you’ll know when it’s close, Papyrus has a complete field day with decorating the house."

As you both laugh at the mental image, he extends an arm to the next building.

"This is….get ready for it…..’The Snowed Inn’. As in….it’s an inn. And….it’s in Snowdin."

You can’t even bring yourself to laugh; the pure beauty of the pun just leaves you speechless. Sans seems to appreciate this, as his smile reaches that Cheshire cat quality.

"And this here next door is Snowdin Shop; run by the younger sister of the inn, actually. They sell all sorts – food, medicine, clothes….it’s pretty great."

Both of the buildings follow the running trend of the town; comfortable and cosy wood buildings, plenty of character – just the kind of buildings you liked.

Sans looks as he’s about to finish his grand tour, before it seems he has a lightbulb moment.

"Oh wait, I’ve missed something; I think you’ll find it pretty cool."

He wraps his arms around you, and once more you’re plunged into the void; even though you’re there for the merest of moments, you glance around desperately for some sign of Gaster, but to no avail. You’re back in the snow, Sans looking at you with perplexed eyes, obviously still searching for some kind of negative reaction.

"I’m good, see?"

"Hmm."

He lets go warily, as if waiting for you to suddenly topple over, but when you show no such signs, he resumes his quizzical inspection.

"…I just don’t get it."

"I can see that – to be honest, I don’t get it, either."

He appears to think hard for a long while, before shaking his head hurriedly.

"Nah, don’t worry about it, we’ll figure it out eventually. Anyways, here’s what I wanted to show you – this is Ice Wolf."

Across an icy expanse of river on a small outcrop, there’s a highly muscular wolf….man….well, he looked like the werewolf stereotype, though he didn’t seem to be anything close to viscous; he gives a friendly wave at the sight of you two, in fact. He seemed to be quickly carving massive chucks of ice from a mass, and chucking them into the river in an orderly fashion.

"Why’s….he throwing…?"

"He’s sending chunks of ice directly to the core of the Underground; it’s a machine that powers all our electricity, heat, AC….anything you can think of. Pretty cool, huh?"

"….so thermal power?"

"Yeah, but directly from magma."

"Oh wow, so….basically you’ve found a way of creating an energy power supply with no waste product?"

"Yup. Perfect clean energy. Amazin’ what a little magic in the right place can do."

"….whoa."

Your mind runs wild with the scientific implications of such a thing, and Sans chuckles.

"Hey, is that what I looked like when I heard your growling last night?"

You blush lightly, frowning at him, while he laughs. Before you can stomp off, he waves his arms in a peace making motion.

"So, happy to go home? Pap’s won’t be back for a bit, so you can always try your idea of making dinner – we have more than enough food, as he’s always experimenting."

"That sounds like it would be pretty fun, to be honest – wanna be sue chef?"

Sans rolls his eyes, before once again wrapping his arms around you, and blipping you both back into the living room; you don’t bother to look for Gaster this time – it was likely that he’d seen you, but the brief look wasn’t nearly enough time to catch a glimpse of him.

Sans once again looks at you with narrowed eyes, awaiting you to pass out, throw up, or both, but you simply look at him with a smug expression. With a short snort, he lets go.

"Ok, ok, you’re fine, I get it. But seriously, how can you be that used to the void, y/n? I know you mentioned that you might’ve been there before, but…."

"Well, I think I have? I don’t imagine that there’s other spaces like….that. I kinda...eh, it’s complicated."

"Yeah, I guess it is…."

His mind is ticking away, so you decide to ask the question you’d been sitting on since yesterday; information about Toriel’s friend. You felt you could trust him enough now, so even if he wasn’t the friend she mentioned, he would probably help you find them.

"Hey, uh, Sans..."

"Mmm?"

"I was just wondering….no, you know, I’m just gonna get this out in one lot. I came from the Ruins; I lived there with a woman called Toriel – she’s, uh, kind of my adoptive parent? Anyway, she sent me out to meet up with her ‘friend’; someone who she talks to on the other side of the Ruins door. They said they’d help out with….meeting a science friend of theirs. Do you….do you know them?"

Sans’ expression changes several times during your little speech. Gentle intrigue, to surprise, to a smug expression, like the Cheshire cat that’s got the cream….or maybe the ketchup.

"Hmm, I dunno….what kinda guy is he?"

You look at him with a deadpan expression; it was pretty clear from his reaction he knew perfectly well who you were talking about. He raised his hands in surrender.

"Ok, ok! It’s me – didn’t know her name ‘till now….so….she’s called Toriel, eh…."

"Yeah, she is…..so…..thank you."

"Huh?"

You look down at your feet, too shy to meet his eyes.

"Thanks….you kept your promise. You made sure that I was ok. So...thanks."

You hear a short cough, and look up, to see Sans also looking at his feet, a small blush on his face.

"I….it’s ok. I think….even if I hadn’t promised her, I would have made sure you were ok. You’re….like Papyrus says, you’re a good person."

He gives you a small grin, which you return.

"So, who’s this friend of yours then?"

"Hmmm….you know, I think I have a pretty good idea of getting you two to meet. But, question – why do you need information on souls, anyways?"

He looks at you with curious eye lights, his expression inquisitive. You bite your lip a little, looking off to the side.

"It’s kind of….personal. Please don’t take offense to that."

"Don’t worry; none taken. Just, if you need any help with it, I know a bit about souls, too, so uh….yeah."

You both laugh at your mutual awkwardness, before you remove your outside gear, and skips happily to the kitchen to dig around for ingredients; and find just what you need to make mushroom risotto. And you’re setting all the things out on the surface top, Sans steps out for a second to make a phone call, leaving you with mysterious instructions….

 

"Make enough for four, ok?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yup, I've revealed my pancake methods. To be honest, I'm going to be putting quite a few recipes in here (as I love cooking) so....feel free to try them? (^▽^) 
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	15. The First of Many Anime Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you make dinner for four....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

Still pondering at Sans’ strange instruction, you prepare dinner (for four, of course). Whilst you chop up a generous amount of something akin to chestnut mushrooms (though much larger in size), and onions that make tears stream down your face, you also worry if Papyrus will approve of you slightly taking over the kitchen, given the fact you are a guest. You hoped that even if he didn’t quite approve, he would at least enjoy the meal you made….and maybe some pancakes in the morning.

Thinking of which, you weren’t really sure how long you’d be away from the Ruins, and where you would stay; as nice as the brothers were, you did not want to inhibit them or overstay your welcome. Sighing softly, you crumble some stock cubes into boiling water, which admittedly was a little lazy – but you didn’t have hours upon hours to brew up a decent stock. You gently sweat off the onions in some butter, doing the same in another pan for the mushrooms (which would be added in later, of course). You season both with oregano, basil, pepper, garlic, and a little lemon juice; just to give it a slight acidic tang. As the stock comes to the boil, filling the kitchen with its aromatic scent, you add the rice into the soft onions (and turn off the heat on the now cooked mushroom) and mix until the rice is well incorporated, before adding in your first ladle full of stock. On the surface, you probably would have added in a little wine first, but you weren’t too sure if monsters possessed alcohol, even if they did seem to do well with cultivating everything else needed for cooking.

As you mix your rice, onion, and stock (adding more stock gradually as the rice absorbed what you’d already given it), your mind wonders a little, and you end up humming a small tune in order to keep focused on the cooking. Or at least, that would have worked, if a sudden deep voice behind you hadn’t have asked,

"Whatcha singing?"

You yelp, almost dropping the wooden spoon you’d been mixing the rice with, and shoot a harmless glare at Sans, who seemed to be taking great amusement at managing to make you jump.

"It’s nothing, really….I don’t know, do you guys know much ‘human’ music down here?"

Your iPod was your pride and joy, something you’d saved up for months for on the surface (which meant neglecting to feed yourself much, but it was worth it) – you were so happy it had survived the fall, but you hadn’t been able to listen to it much recently, as things had been so...hectic.

"Yeah, well, whatever falls down here, anyway."

"Huh?"

"Heh….there’s this place that we call ‘the dump’ - a lot of things from above end up there, either by mistake, or from humans throwing it away. You can find a lot of good stuff, if you look right….and if you can repair it."

You frown slightly, while you add another ladle; it just seemed wrong that monsters had to receive humankind’s sloppy seconds.

"So, have you heard of The Beatles?"

Sans’ smile brightened considerably.

"Yeah, sure have; they’re an old classic, right? I knew I recognised what you were humming. It was ‘Blackbird’, wasn’t it?"

"Sure was! It’s one of my favourites."

Sans’ smile grows easy as he hangs about while you cook; you both occasionally laughing over some stupid pun, or Sans asking something about what you were making – you also find out a little more about his music tastes, too. He’s a lover of all musics, but has a special taste for soft jazz and music with emotional connotations; like a lot of the songs from the Beatles, and many others, of course. You promise to show him some from your iPod at some point, which he seems slightly excited by, and you can more than understand it – music is not only a good way of escaping things for a while, but it’s also….more than that. Like a gateway to another person’s story, or another world all together, depending on what you listen to. Hearing new music, especially music that might be exactly what you want to hear without even knowing is always a nice thing.

You finally reach the point with the risotto where it needs to sit and absorb for a while, so you turn off the heat, add the cooked mushroom into the mix, and pour in a little liquid magic so the meal would be compatible with everyone, before covering the saucepan and focusing your attention on grating some parmesan cheese.

"So, why am I cooking for 4, again? I mean, I do hope my cooking will be good, but surely you can’t eat for two?"

Sans’ laugh echoes throughout the small kitchen, and he settles himself before he answers.

"Nope, not quite. I’ve invited that scientist friend I know over."

You almost drop the cheese you’d been grating on the kitchen surface, looking at him in mute shock.

"Heeey, don’t look at me like that. She’s cool; she already knew you were here, anyway."

"What? How?!"

"Heh, this is gonna sound kinda creepy, but she has cameras all over the Underground; surveillance is one of her jobs. So she saw you the second you stepped out of the Ruins – apparently you even waved at the camera, so she already has a soft spot for you bud. Relax. She’s not told anyone else, and I think she’s actually looking forward to meeting you; which is a surprise, let me tell you..."

You frown, slightly offended.

"Oh no! Sorry, y/n, I didn’t…..um….no, she has real bad social anxiety."

You throw an apologetic look at him, knowing he didn’t mean anything by it – which he seems to accept readily.

"I look forward to meeting her, too – and hopefully none of you hate my cooking!"

"Well, it smells really good, y/n. Though I gotta say, I’m more suited to the task of cooking mushroom risotto as -"

"Let me guess? Because you’re a _fungi_?"

"Aw, you ruined it!"

You both giggle, but stop as there’s the tell tale explosion of Papyrus ‘opening’ the door.

"Sans! Human! I have returned!"

Papyrus waltzes into the kitchen just as you’re adding in the cheese to melt; you’re so glad you’ve been cleaning up as you go along, given Papyrus’ aversion to Sans’ mess.

"Human! You’re cooking!"

"Yes, I….thought it would be a nice way of saying thanks, Paps. For all you two have done for me, you know? And for being my friends."

"Human…."

Papyrus seems to be visibly tearing up, and for a second you worry if it’s due to the fact you’re cooking in his kitchen; but before you can back-pedal, he bursts out dramatically.

"Making a dinner simply as thanks? Human, you have no need to thank. We’re….friends. We…..I did the things I did because of that. But thank you, cooking is…."

He gulps, looking down a little.

"….very important. To shower people with affection via something you’ve spent hours on….it’s very important."

Plonking the saucepan lid unceremoniously over the risotto, you rush to him and give him a giant hug, resulting in him letting out a surprised ‘nyeh’.

"Papyrus, you are certainly one of the best friends a person could ask for!"

He returns the hug with soft ‘nyeh heh heh’.

"Though I must admit - "

You let go suddenly, attempting to take a theatric stance.

"- whatever I cook will never amount to the great Papyrus’ cooking!"

He seems to regain his confidence in an instant, standing proudly, and you swear that you can see his cape waving in an invisible wind.

"Indeed, human! Nyeh heh heh heh!"

As the risotto is more or less complete, you all head into the living room – luckily, Mettaton’s show is not until much later. Unluckily, Papyrus seems to have recorded every movie of Mettaton’s.

Whilst Papyrus bounces with the ‘tension’ of the movie he’d put on (Mettaton was playing a man in forbidden love….with Mettaton.), you and Sans wince at the terrible acting and general cheesiness – you didn’t know a ‘romance’ movie needed so much glitter. In fact, you couldn’t think of many things that needed so much glitter. But Papyrus (even though he’d probably seen this movie a million times over) was completely starstruck – it was incredibly endearing, and you found yourself smiling softly at his exuberance.

The movie was only at the halfway point when there was a knock at the door. Papyrus instantly turned the tape off; Sans had already briefed him. Feeling nervous, you busy yourself by running quickly to the kitchen to get all the food ready, earning you an odd stare from both Sans and Papyrus. But you couldn’t fight your impulse to hide, even though Sans had tried to reassure you; this was still someone you didn’t know, and you didn’t really want to find yourself in another ‘fight’ yet; you wanted to relax, just for a little bit.

So you quickly get out four shallow bowls, giving your risotto one final mix and taste, before adding a little more seasoning; then you were satisfied. Whilst you were doing this, Sans and Papyrus were greeting the ‘guest’ - you peeked curiously through the archway, trying to be surreptitious about it. You were happy to see she seemed pretty harmless; she was cute, even. She appeared to be something akin to a dinosaur or lizard, but with butter yellow scales – she was also quite short (though for monsters, this seemed to be about your height), and curvy, but in a nice sense; adorably small but respectful glasses perched delicately on her snout. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a Sailor Moon print, and a cute polka dot skirt.

You quickly duck back into the kitchen, puffing out a breath, thinking of what would be an acceptable way to re-join everyone. You decide serving dinner would be the safest route; filling each bowl, and gently placing a little more parmesan shavings on top of each one – partly for aesthetics, and partly because you loved parmesan. You gently place each bowl upon the table, and the room softly quietens around you as you turn to face the occupants.

"Hey, um, well, dinner’s….served? Oh and….it’s nice to meet you…?"

You finish awkwardly, fiddling with your hands a little, staring off to the side as you didn’t feel confident enough to meet anyone’s gaze. Luckily Papyrus speaks up before any awkward silence could even think of appearing.

"Why thank you, human! It looks truly wonderful."

The scientist surprises you by speaking up.

"Y-y-yes, y/n. T-thank you, s-s-so much."

She stammers and shakes, looking anywhere but at you; Sans was clearly telling the truth earlier, even if he hadn’t mentioned how serious it was. You gently approach her, kneeling in front of so you could appear less threatening; and so you could meet her eyes, as she was keeping them so low.

"Hey there. I’m sorry I didn’t come to say hi sooner. My name is y/n."

You hold out your hand to her, with a gentle smile. She looked at you tentatively, then with small smile in return, she shakes your hand.

"I-I’m Alphys."

"Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask – is that a Sailor Moon shirt?"

Her eyes brighten up, as she looks at you in surprise.

"W-Why yes, it is! You l-like anime, t-then?"

When you grin with an affirmative, she instantly launches into a complicated conversation about which ones you like, and what have you seen, and which ones are her favourites – her stammer improves until it slowly fades, as she becomes more confident around you. You all sit down, chatting happily, and Sans gives you a small thumbs up. Before long, Alphys is plotting an anime marathon night with you all at some point, to which Papyrus becomes incredibly excited (after all, it meant a sleepover). Everyone starts to eat, and to your happiness, the reaction is positive.

"Human! This rice dish is very good, very good indeed. It comes a close second to my spaghetti!"

"Wow, thank you so much Papyrus!"

"He’s r-right, y/n, it’s really nice."

"She’s a real good cook – she makes awesome pancakes too, Pap."

You blush softly under the wave of compliments, shoving a spoonful of the meal in your mouth to hide it, though it seems at least Sans noticed, as he gives you knowing grin.

Soon enough, all the bowls are cleared, and before you can dread having to sit through the other half of ‘Mettaton Love’, Alphys provides the holy grail of saves – she just so happens to have brought a copy of ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ with her, as she thought it might be fun to watch together. Papyrus oddly agrees happily (you supposed he knew his collection wasn’t going to go anywhere fast), and you and Sans inwardly sigh with relief, which makes you both chuckle when you notice what the other is doing. You all manage to squish onto the couch (even though you find yourself squished in between Sans and Papyrus, though neither seems to mind), and sit down to watch. The little movie session is lovely; the film having just the right balance of comedy, action, tragedy and romance to keep you all riveted. As the film ends, Papyrus announces that he needs to sleep, as he has a training session tomorrow – though it seems that he has a training session everyday; that was dedication.

As Papyrus climbs the stairs, you feel a small ball of nervousness form in the pit of your stomach; it would be time to talk soon, seriously talk. After all, Alphys did come here for a reason – as lovely as just her pure company was, and no matter how much you got on here with her, the matter to discuss was personal, and more than a little off-putting.

You suddenly feel a cool scaly hand place itself over your own – you hadn’t realised that you’d been wringing them absent-mindedly. But of course she would notice; as someone with a social anxiety problem, she would know the signs of anything akin to it well. She smiled kindly at you, trying to reassure, and you smile back, even though you probably still looked nervous. Sans patted your shoulder, also trying to reassure; of course he would have noticed, you’d come to realise that he was truly uncanny when it came to observation.

"Hey bud, I can stay, if you like – or, if it’s too….personal, I’ll just go up to my room?"

"I….no, you know what, I don’t mind. You can stay."

He seemed to like this answer, even though he was obviously still trying to support you; you could understand why, it always felt nice when someone decided that you would be worth trusting, when you were trustworthy.

"O-ok, y/n. So, what is this problem that you wished to d-discuss?"

You huff in a gentle breath, preparing your self.

"It’s….well, it’s regarding, my….soul."

They both looked as though they thought as much, though Sans does have a faint blush on his cheeks at the mention; you can’t blame him, it’s personal subject.

"Well, uh, I don’t know if it has anything to do with this, but my HP is…..really low? I’m not sure what the level is now, to be honest, but the last time I checked, it was…..haha, it was 2."

Alphys wears an expression of sympathy, but Sans looks almost distraught; though there also seems to be another expression underlying, one that you just can’t put your finger on.

"But, the real issue here -"

You shoot Sans a sympathetic glance; this would probably embarrass him.

"-is the appearance of it. My soul, that is."

You were right to assume; he looked away at that – Alphys however seemed to be taking this purely scientifically, as she nods at you, encouraging.

"It’s not….normal, according to Toriel – she’s who I stayed with in the Ruins. So she sent me here, so we….could see if anything was wrong."

Alphys hums, and Sans seemed to have lost his earlier bashfulness, merely seeming to be concerned; you can tell he’d do all he could to help – he was a good friend, which made you feel more than happy inside.

"W-well, y/n, I-I have a soul examination machine, b-back at my lab…..as well as some o-other things. As for y-your HP…."

She looks at you with sympathy.

"I-it might not be connected, b-but I promise that I’ll look into it. I-I’m sure it will all be ok, a-and if it’s not, we’ll a-all be there for you."

"Yeah, don’t worry ‘bout a thing, y/n."

You stare down at your hands, trying to blink away the tears that were trying to form. What did you do to deserve such good people in your life? They weren’t judging you, and they wanted to help you….they were there for you. It was something that you’d never got to have on the surface, something you’d never had; it was wonderful.

"Thank you…..thank you so much."

Sans pats you gently on the back, and you turn to look at him.

"Hey….I mean….you know we’ll eventually get to the _soul_ of the matter."

You try to fight your grin.

"Sans nooo…."

"Sans yes!"

You all break out into nervous giggles – you had to hand it to him, he really knew how to cut the tension. Alphys sighs in a slightly sad way, which makes both you and Sans turn to her. She seems to be staring in horror at your phone, which you’d left causally on the small book table.

"Y/n! This thing is positively ancient!"

"Yeah, but it’s got the cool box storage thingy."

Sans outright bursts out laughing, digging in his pocket, and eventually holding out his phone, which looks a hell of lot more modern than yours; sleek and sliver.

"All phones have that, it’s basic."

You glower at him, and he shrugs with a smug expression, pocketing his phone. Alphys meanwhile, seemed to be examining yours.

"Y-you know, y/n, I could probably update this. J-just, when you come to the lab…..I-I could probably do it then."

"That would be really nice. Please make it better than Sans’, so I can at least win the phone war."

"Y/n nooo."

"Y/n, yes."

Alphys shakes her head at your antics, smiling. It’s then that you remember something from long ago.

"Hey, you know….I did have a phone on the surface, but….it got completely broken when I fell down here. I’ve….still got the pieces, though. Do you think you could do something with them?"

She nods, looking eager – obviously a scientist to the core, wanting to fiddle with any new technology.

"I-I’d have to see it, but I’m s-sure I can figure something out."

Since she seems so excited, you instantly work on taking out your bag from your storage, digging around until you find the mass of wires and chips, before handing it to Alphys, who seems to be verging on Papyrus level excitement.

"W-wow….oh, I-I could e-easily at least transfer data….a-and….oh wow…."

You chuckle.

"Well, I have some nice pictures of the surface on there, and really that’s the only thing of worth. If you can get those off there, I’d really appreciate it….and obviously, just keep the rest – I’m sure you can do something really cool with it."

Her eyes seem to shine with happiness. Before long, you’re all saying your goodbyes, and making dates for you to head to the lab; she says that she has to check her schedule, and hurriedly puts her number into your phone, saying that she’ll call you sometime tomorrow to organise it. And with that, she hurries off into the night and snow, a coat shielding her from the cold.

Sans gently closes the front door, and you stretch with a snap, thinking about setting up your bed. Just as you start to grab your pillows, they blip out of reach, before appearing on the opposite side of the couch. You shoot a look at Sans who shrugs with a grin.

"Hey, thought maybe we could chat for a bit."

"Oh, ok – you could have just said."

"Naw, it was worth the look on your face."

You pout at him, which makes him laugh, and you both plonk down on the couch once more. Without warning, you suddenly get poked in the cheek.

"Uh, ow."

"Oh man, I’m sorry – I just got curious, heh."

He looks at you, sheepishly apologetic, and you laugh.

"Curious?"

"Yeah, I mean, you’re a human, so I figured you must feel different, right?"

"And did I?"

"….no, not really."

He looks slightly disappointed, so you try to raise his spirits.

"Well, I bet I have a lot of other things different; I mean, you already know about my ‘growls’ and pulse. I mean, I also have this -"

You stick out your tongue, and Sans watches with slight fascination, though he still looks a little put out. You understand why as he pokes his tongue out at you in return – though his seems to be quite the different colour to yours; blue, just like when he blushes. You laugh suddenly, which earns you a confused expression.

"Ok, ok, so we both have tongues. One thing learned, at least."

"How did you think I taste stuff?"

"I don’t know….magic?"

He rolls his eyes. Since he was more or less composed of magic, you could understand his sarcasm. He gently pokes your cheek again, albeit a little softer so it doesn’t hurt you, and gives a soft chuckle.

"It’s so weird to feel a skeleton under here, though – kinda surreal. Not that I’m bothered by it, though."

"Yup, _bone_ -ified skeleton descendant, right here."

"Hehe, you sure know how to tickle my _funny bone_ , bud."

You both laugh, before you decide to satisfy your curiosity as well; surprising him slightly when you reach up and poke his cheek. He’s right; oddly, it doesn’t feel all that different to yours – the ‘skin’ gives a little, before your finger hits the ‘bone’. You weren’t sure what you expected; how else would he be able to pull expressions?

"It feels like skin….but…."

"I’m a little _boney_? Yeah, it’s kinda like….well, I’m more or less surrounded by a layer of magic, that cushions me a little. Basically, if you want the simple answer."

Now that he mentioned it, you finger felt almost a little fuzzy, like you were coming into contact with soft static.

"That is incredibly cool."

You both giggle again, before Sans regards you with a slightly more serious expression.

"Hey, do you want to….enter a fight? So you can check your HP?"

You frown a little.

"You’re that worried about it, huh?"

"….yeah, a little. I don’t..."

He looks away slightly.

"..I don’t want you getting hurt, or anything."

The kindness he expresses never fails to surprise you.

"Sure, let’s go for it. Obviously don’t hit me, though."

He laughs, but looks oddly nervous, but not in an embarrassed way – more fearful, you swear you can see him shake.

"Hey, are you ok?"

He seems to start, not realising you’d apparently noticed his change in mood.

"Y-yeah, it’s just….aw, never mind. You’ll see."

You feel the gentlest of tugs on your soul before the usual glow appears, and you see stats appear above Sans; he almost looks ashamed.

**SANS. HP:1. CAN ONLY DEAL 1 DAMAGE.**

You can now understand his fear; he was just like you, worried about being judged. But you’re not judging – you feel incredible concern. What had he been through, that had made his outlook so bleak it would lower his HP like that? He seems to be giving you an equally as concerned look, as he reads above your head. The battle ends, and you feel your soul return to you. You both regard each other, before you take initiative, and give him a giant hug. He appears to have been thinking the same, as he returns it without a hint of hesitation.

"I’m so sorry, Sans. I’m….here for you, if you ever want to talk, ok?"

"….yeah. I’m here for you too, y/n."

You stand for a while, just holding each other, not crying, or speaking – no noise at all. Simply accepting the comfort of one another; a kindred soul, who understands what pain feels like, even if neither of you had talked about what kind of pain it was. Eventually you pull apart, and simply look at each other. Sans eventually sighs softly, closing his eyes for a second, before meeting yours with a smile. You hear a flop behind you, and realise the bed is suddenly made, which makes you narrow your eyes at him, hiding a grin.

"Papyrus would most definitely disapprove of such laziness."

"Meh."

You both giggle at his lazy retort, before you climb into bed, and you both bid each other good night. As you lay there, you feel oddly at peace, despite the slightly stressful situation.

 

Sans was a true friend, and that made up for almost everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some more flufffff (。-ω-)ﾉ  
> Gah, my love for Howl's Moving Castle will never end....honestly, it's a film I watch whenever I'm sad, and it always seems to make me feel better. ^-^ And I don't know why, but I seem to be giving away a load of my favorite recipes... (．＿．) 
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	16. A Second Home?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we find out a little more about....things?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!
> 
> Also guys.....I really wanted to thank you all for leaving kudos and stuff. I know it's not much in the grand scheme of things, but getting over 1000 views on this is really awesome to me. So thank you all so much <3

You do not have the most restful of sleeps, as this was sadly one of the nights where your mind seemed to bypass the Void, which always created a nice cushion between you and your dreams, at least for a little while; so you’re merely dosing when you become aware of Papyrus attempting to sneak down the stairs. Without opening your eyes, you smile.

"Good morning, Papyrus."

You hear something akin to a squeak of surprise (Papyrus style).

"Human! I thought you were asleep! I’m so sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, no, don’t worry – I was already awake. Are you off to train?"

"Oh well, yes indeed, but I was going to make the finest of breakfast spaghetti first!"

Sighing, you sit up, and without speaking plod to the kitchen, leaving a confused Papyrus in your wake.

"Human?"

"C’mon, I’m making you pancakes. I’ve got a load of mix left; plus it will mean, uh….you can prepare yourself mentally for the training?"

"Thank you human, that’s very kind of you. And what a fantastic idea! Training is, after all, both physical and mental."

You weren’t quite sure what kind of training that would require, and didn’t really want to know; though you were more or less sure that one day you would probably find out the hard way.

Groggily you get the remaining pancake mix out of the fridge, and dig out the frying pan from the cupboard, putting in a little oil to heat up.

"So, should I make some for Sans, too? I don’t know when he gets up, heh."

Papyrus positively grimaces, something you try desperately hard not to laugh at, but sputter anyway, which he doesn’t seem to mind.

"I usually wake up that lazy bones just before I leave – I swear, if he cleaned his room, then perhaps he wouldn’t sleep in so late! A clean room is far healthier to sleep in, after all."

You silently nod in agreement, wincing inwardly at the slight mess you’d often let your shoebox fall into; Papyrus would probably be horrified. Noting that the oil is hot enough, you gently plop in some mixture.

"How many would you like, Papyrus?"

"Two please, human. It’s so nice that you’re doing this!"

"No problem at all, honestly. I like cooking – and it’s so nice….to finally have someone to cook for, you know?"

Before you can even start to feel sad, Papyrus wraps you in a sudden hug, making you squeak in shock.

"Fear not, human! You will always have someone to cook for – and someone to cook with, if the great Papyrus has anything to do with it! Nyeh heh heh!"

Laughing, you awkwardly flip the pancake from within the hug, patting his arm in thanks as he releases you. You then chatter about things; all the puzzles in the Ruins, which Papyrus seems to marvel over, and the many dishes that you’d cooked with Toriel. Papyrus doesn’t allow any form of negativity to start in your thoughts, you notice – he was one of the most positive persons you’d come across, like a ray of sunshine in his own right. You sprinkle his pancakes with a little sugar and nothing else, as you remember Sans’ words of his hate of grease, and gently hand the plate to him.

"Human, do you not want any?"

"I’ll have some a little later. I want to wake up a bit more first."

Papyrus frowns a little, before taking a large bite of pancake and ‘nyeh’ing in approval.

"Well done again, human! Your chef skills are truly at a nice level!"

You smile softly, if not a little tiredly.

"It’s a pity…."

He looks down at his pancakes sorrowfully, and you feel your heart wrench; such a pure soul didn’t deserve to feel unhappiness.

"It’s a pity Undyne and you cannot meet. She loves to cook, too! She taught me to make spaghetti….I would cook with Sans, as well, but it seems all he makes is the occasional strange pie…."

He leans a little closer to you, and stage whispers with a look of disgust.

"…he puts _eggs_ in it."

"…..so, a quiche?"

Papyrus looked at you in confusion, so you quickly change the subject, filing the ‘quiche’ conundrum away for later.

"As for Undyne….maybe one day, you never know….maybe we can meet, and be friends. I mean, if she’s that good a friend to you, Papyrus, I’m sure that we can work something out!"

Papyrus seems incredibly excited by this idea, then his face turns into thoughtful plotting, which roused your suspicions.

"Papyrus….."

"Oh, don’t worry human, I wouldn’t dare think of doing anything foolish. I will simply….lay little hints, here and there, I think. Get her used to the idea that I’ve made a wonderful new friend – that way, perhaps, she’ll be more inclined to give you a chance!"

"Perhaps, Papyrus. But…..be careful, ok?"

He smiles at you, patting your head with his gloved hand, before getting up to place his empty plate in the sink.

"I shall see you later, human, and remember; shaking Sans is the best way of getting him to wake up!"

"Well, pancakes seem to work pretty well, too, but I’ll keep it in mind. I hope you have a good day training!"

He grins and waves goodbye, before waltzing out the door – and oddly shutting the door softly, a massive contradiction to his loud entrances. Yawning and stretching your tired muscles, you wander into the bathroom, having a quick shower, before haphazardly wrapping your head in a towel and chucking your pj’s back on; you didn’t know if Sans had to be up for something important, so time was of the essence. You quickly head to the kitchen, and heat up the pan once again; before setting out a plate. You plop on three pancakes, dressing them with some butter and sugar, and before you head up the stairs, you grab a bottle of ketchup from the fridge; he did seem to like it, after all.

Gently padding up the stairs, you find yourself once again at Sans’ door, tapping at the wooden frame delicately. You hear a groan from within.

"Urgh, I’ll be up soon, Papyrus."

"Actually, it’s y/n; and I have pancakes and ketchup with me."

"….you’re a godsend."

You laugh, before nudging the door open. This time Sans is actually sat upon the bed, though he looks….awful, if anything. The light shadows that are usually under his eyes are far darker, and his usual smile appears a little strained with obvious fatigue.

"Oh my god, are you ok?"

He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. As he opens his mouth, you cut him off.

"Don’t you dare say you’re ‘fine’ - I can tell you’re not, and it’s more than acceptable to say that you’re not. Did you not sleep?"

He seems to wince a little at the word sleep, and shakes his head groggily.

"Naw. ‘kept….eh. Pancakes will make me better. It’ll be ok."

You laugh a little humourlessly out of worry, before handing him the fluffy goodness and his precious condiment. He immediately reaches out and takes a massive bite out of a pancake, ignoring the fork, groaning happily.

"As much as I love spaghetti, pancakes are definitely preferred for breakfast. Thanks, y/n."

You laugh softly, before indicating to the forgotten cutlery.

"You don’t have to use your hands, you heathen."

"They looked too good to waste time on such trivialities!"

Despite his words, he sheepishly picks up the fork, licking the sugar off his fingers with a chuckle. Taking another massive bite of pancake, he regards you with a thoughtful expression, before patting the mattress space next to him, indicating he wanted you to sit down, which you accept; you felt too tired to stand up for too long. He swallows the gargantuan mouthful, still looking at you in a contemplative manner.

"Talking of lack of sleep, you don’t look too sharp yourself, bud. What’s up?"

Attempting to worm your way out of the question, you throw him a sly glance.

"I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours?"

He grumbles at you, biting down on some more pancake, and you silently cheer in victory at your sly evasion skills. Well, momentarily, anyway. Sans takes a quick swig of ketchup, and sighs.

"I have….a lot of nightmares. Some nights I can deal with it, others I can’t. This happened to be one of those ‘can’t deal’ nights. There you go, your turn."

He simply stares down at his pancakes, before turning to you with expectant eye-lights. Knowing you’d run yourself into a corner, you grumble slightly, before staring down at your hands.

"More or less the same as you, to be honest. But hey, at least this meant that I was up early enough to make both you and Papyrus pancakes; silver lining and all that."

You paste on a smile, shrugging, which he hums at, taking another bite of pancake. You still haven’t looked up from your hands, so your squeak in surprise when you feel him poke the towel you’re still wearing upon your wet hair.

"Don’t go throwing in the _towel_ yet, y/n, we’ll get there eventually."

He grins at you, and you smile back. Taking in the final bite of pancake, and a heavy swig of ketchup, Sans stretches with a groan.

"Right, I guess I’d better get to my station….you coming?"

Feeling surprised, you just look at him dumbly, before he laughs at your expression.

"What, did you think I’d just leave you here? I’m not that mean. C’mon, it’d be boring just sitting alone in the house for hours; unless you had something to do?"

"N-no, not really….I mean, I need to phone Toriel to let her know I’m ok, but..."

Sans hums for a second, before seeming to have a lightbulb moment.

"I got a waaaay better idea. Gimme your phone."

"What? Why?"

"Trust me, y/n, it’s gonna be cool."

Looking at him with suspicion, you nod with a sigh, which he laughs at. You puff a little in mock indignation, before reaching to take his plate, which makes him raise a brow.

"And what do you think you’re doing?"

"Taking your plate downstairs? ‘Cause you’re finished?"

Keeping fantastically awkward eye contact, he licks the plate clean of sugar.

"I wasn’t finished. In fact, it was so good, I think I’ll just eat the plate."

He turns away from you, before turning back empty handed. It’s pretty obvious he teleported the plate into the sink.

"Papyrus would be ashamed."

"That he would."

"Your table manners are appalling."

He takes another swig of ketchup as if to make a point.

"That they are."

Shaking your head with a laugh, you go to stand.

"Welp, I gotta get dressed, and I suppose go get you my phone -"

He holds up your phone with a flourish. You had to admit, being able to teleport was incredibly handy.

"Why, thank you."

Did you say that out loud?

"Yup, you certainly did."

You rub your eyes in frustration at your tiredness, and Sans chuckles.

"I’ll see ya in a minute, y/n. Try to chill out on the couch before then, ok?"

You nod sleepily, before plodding back down the stairs, taking the soaked towel off your head, and more or less throwing yourself back into your makeshift bed with a sigh. You know that you should be doing something more productive, like making yourself breakfast, but you’re simply too tired. So you turn your thoughts to Sans’ similar situation; you hadn’t really spoken much about it, but it was still something you wanted to talk more about with him. You’d never really opened up to anyone about that side of yourself, not even Toriel; as with the low HP thing, it was nice to have someone who really understood, even if it wasn’t exactly a pleasant situation.

Wondering what he could be doing with your phone, it makes you think when Alphys would call you with a date of when she would be able to see you at her lab; even if it was a worrying prospect, you still wanted to get it over and done with. You didn’t feel as if anything was wrong with you, but it wasn’t as if you were familiar with things to do with souls – you could have had something wrong with you your entire life, and never known it….

Grumbling, you sit up, giving up on the idea of rest, and hurriedly throw on some clothes; the same ones as yesterday, as it wasn’t like they’d gotten dirty – you still weren’t sure where you’d be staying, after all, so wasting clothes without the option of washing them would be silly.

As you’re grabbing a chair to wash up, you feel it gently pulling away from you, and look up to see Sans grinning at you.

"Nope, I’m not having you climb up to the sink like that. It’s fine; just leave the pan to soak, we’ll be back in a few hours."

Sighing, you release the chair. You jump as he breaks into sudden loud laughter, leaving you confused.

"W-what?"

"Oh stars! Your shirt! That’s….heh…. _skyentists..._ "

You laugh along with him, partly at the shirt, and partly at his overall lack of observance.

"I was wearing it the whole of yesterday! Didn’t you notice?"

He lets out another attractive snort, still not quite over the joke, before sighing happily, wiping away tears of laughter.

"No, can’t say I did. Gotta say, I was a little distracted yesterday with everything, so I – wait, why are you wearing the same stuff as you wore yesterday?"

He looks at you in a confused manner, which makes you giggle.

"Like you can talk! You wear the same stuff all the time."

He looks down at his white shirt, blue hoodie and black basketball shorts ensemble, before shrugging.

"It’s comfy. But seriously, do you not have enough clothes with you from the Ruins?"

"No, I….have all of my clothes. I have enough, but, I….I’m not really sure where I’ll be staying, so I wanted to make sure I’d make them last, if you know what I mean?"

You chuckle awkwardly, while Sans regards you with something akin to confusion.

"Uh….y/n, I thought you knew you’d be staying here?"

You look at him in shock.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. I mean, well, I wouldn’t just throw you into the cold like that, you know? Plus, I – _we_ like having you here. I mean."

He blushes slightly, looking off to the side, before huffing and looking back at you with a determined expression.

"Me and Paps have already started getting the spare room set up for you, y’know. So….relax a little. You don’t have to go anywhere."

You aren’t quite sure how to react; yet again, the kindness of these ‘monsters’ was shocking you.

"T-Thank you."

"Heh, believe me, it’s no problem. Now, c’mon, we have a station to get to."

He winks at you slowly, before leaning in and whispering.

" _We_ _need to be on the look out for humans_."

You giggle, and he wraps his arms around you as you feel the sensation of teleporting into the Void, and then out of it – before you know it, you’re at the same station you’d hidden in a few days ago. Before you can even register that you’d forgotten your jacket, Sans hands it to you with a smirk; teleportation yet again proving its usefulness. Shrugging into its warmth, you shuffle into the station with Sans, still yawning. You both sit down, Sans nonchalantly reaching under the desk, grabbing yet another bottle of ketchup – you had wondered at the time why there were so many under there. After he takes a heavy swig, he huffs out, a cloud of fog erupting from his mouth; he gives you another smirk as he sees your curious stare.

"C’mon, ask away; I know that look."

"You uh…..how can you do...this?"

You huff out a breath, leaving another cloud of fog; being tired didn’t leave you at your most eloquent.

"What? Breathe?"

"I guess?"

"Most things need to breathe…?"

"I know, but…."

You puff out a small laugh.

"You’re a skeleton?"

"That is very true, yes. But I’m also a _monster_."

He grins, sticking out his blue tongue at you cheekily. You shrug, mainly satisfied with his answer, as his eye-lights watch your actions.

"Okay, my turn bud."

"Oh, so this is now a question game, is that it?"

"Yup. So….when have you been to the Void?"

You ponder your answer, before mentally shrugging; you didn’t see much harm in telling him the truth.

"I see it sometimes when I dream, I think, or at least when I’m unconscious. I don’t know why, either, so….maybe it’s another soul problem?"

Sans seems to think hard for a while, before humming to himself.

"Perhaps. We can’t really know that without more information, to be honest….still, it’s so strange. Up until now, I’ve kinda been the only person who knew about the place, unless you count my dad….but now it’s just me."

He looks so sad at the mention of his father, so you gently hug his side, attempting to give him some kind of comfort.

"I’m sorry."

"It’s ok – it happened a long time ago."

You release him, hurriedly thinking of another question.

"Oh, uh….Papyrus mentioned that you cook sometimes?"

"Yup, certainly do, but he really hates it."

"Because he thinks you’re making weird egg pies? When you’re actually making….quiche?"

Sans laughs openly, his eyes almost sparkling with mirth.

"Yeah! But it’s always just too funny to try to correct him. Heh…. _egg pies_."

You both share a giggle, then Sans’ face turns contemplative. He’s about to open his mouth to ask another question, when your stomach grumbles loudly, rudely interrupting him.

"Oh geez, sorry! I was too tired to eat this morning."

Without saying anything, he blips out of existence. Just as you’re about to wonder where he’d gone off to, he reappears, holding a brown paper bag, which he offers to you.

"Here, got you some cinnabunnies."

"Cinna….bunnies?"

"Yeah, cinnamon buns in the shape of bunnies."

You grin, thanking him, before taking one out of the bag, and taking a bite. You hum happily as the sweet taste of cinnamon sugar and cream cheese icing fill your senses, throwing a wounded glance at Sans when you notice he’s taken one for himself.

"I gave you pancakes!"

"Yeah. But I also want cinnabunnies; too good to pass up."

You hum in agreement, both of you chowing down on the sweetness; soon the bag is empty, and Sans screws it up and poofs it out of existence – no doubt to a bin somewhere.

"Ok, now that you’re no longer growling at me….what was your favourite thing on the surface?"

You think for a while, feeling a little sad that there really wasn’t anything in the city to mention; but finally deciding.

"The stars, I think. Or the sea. Both were….I could just stare for hours. I’ve got a few pictures of both on my old phone; if Alphys manages to get them off there, I’m more than happy to show you."

Sans smiles softly, looking a little excited at the prospect (you assumed it was excitement, anyway; his eye-lights had dilated the second you said, ‘stars’). Sighing tiredly with a hand pressed to your cheek, you ask your next question.

"Ok, so both you and Papyrus have mentioned me ‘growling’ a few times now – so do monsters growl and stuff?"

"Some do. It’s more common with boss monsters, to be honest? I’m not sure why. But it means the same as it does on the surface, from what I’ve read in books."

"What about purring?"

Sans openly laughs, blushing a little.

"Yeah, that can happen."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. What can I say, bud, I guess monsterkind must be weird to you."

He looks a little sad at that, so you answer honestly.

"To be honest…..no. Not weird at all. Humans are weird; weird and horrible, but you are…..just interesting? Not a…."

You grin, seeing an opportunity.

"... _bad bone_ in your body!"

Sans ‘pfft’s out a surprised laugh, regaining his smile.

"So anyway – I know it’s your turn, but do you think….you could show me?"

He frowns, looking slightly confused.

"Show you what?"

"A growl? Or something. I’m sorry! It’s just...."

Sans shrugs a little, before letting out a soft grumble; it’s a sound you’d assign more to a big cat, if you had to compare it, which surprises you, and Sans chuckles, allowing the deep sound of his growls to fade out into silence.

"Okay, my go…..remember when I took your phone earlier?"

You look at him quizzically.

"Yes?"

"And that I said that it was gonna be cool?"

"….is this going to be some elaborate snow pun?"

"Nope, but I appreciate the pun faith that you have in me. Anyways…."

He surprises you by suddenly putting his arms around you, teleporting you. You huff at him slightly as he lets go, which makes him grin cheekily, a mischievous gleam in his eye-lights. Looking around, you finally notice where you are; you’re both standing right outside the huge doors to the Ruins. You look at him wordlessly, before he smiles, gesturing to the door.

"Go on, give it a knock."

You gently approach it, knocking twice, and gasp in surprise when you hear Toriel’s laughing answer.

"Who’s there?"

Thinking on your feet, you manage to squeak out.

"Canoe!"

"Canoe who?"

"Canoe….open the door? It’s freezing out here."

Both Sans and Toriel sputter out laughter, and the door gradually opens to reveal your adoptive mother in all her glory, smiling at you with her familiar warmth.

 

"Hello, my child."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tori's baaaaaack ;D  
> On another note....ehehe, egg pies >:p
> 
> I decided to sketch out how I view Sans! Uh, give it a look, if you like? >.< https://78.media.tumblr.com/5f2c7aee359093cf74f4b65271749780/tumblr_p4t9l665Jd1x3sik7o1_1280.jpg
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	17. An Evening At Grillby's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you visit a certain establishment....(again, obvious chapter title is obvious)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

Before your mind can even comprehend what your legs are doing, you rush forward into Toriel’s arms, both of you hugging each other as if you hadn’t seen one another for months, even though it had really only been 2 days.

Toriel gently kisses the top of your head, before releasing you, and reaching a paw out to Sans, who accepts and shakes; you’re somewhat relieved that he didn’t use his whoopee cushion trick on her.

"It’s very good to finally meet you, my friend; I am Toriel, as I’m sure that you now know. Thank you so much for taking care of my y/n thus far."

"I’m Sans. Trust me – she takes care of herself. She’s already got the majority of Snowdin as friends."

You look at him in slight surprise, which he shrugs at.

"What, you didn’t know? Papyrus tells me that all the dog monsters keep raving about how wonderful you are, offering them all those pets – and since they make up most of the Royal Guard, other monsters kind of listen to them. So yeah."

Toriel narrows her eyes at you.

"My child, as relieved as I am to hear that, it’s very dangerous to attempt to befriend any of the Royal Guard."

You hold your hands up in mock defence, and you imagine your expression must have become quite sheepish.

"Hey, I didn’t know that they were in the Royal Guard! I thought that they were…uh…"

You try to think of some other description than ‘cute dogs’ but fail miserably, deciding you’re better off letting your words trail off, as it seems Toriel’s already forgiven you.

"All the same, my child, I’m so happy to see you looking well…."

She frowns at you again, inspecting you a little more closely.

"…aside from being a little tired, it seems. Well, no matter. Come in out of the cold – you too, Sans."

You both follow her into the Ruins, Sans looking around in slight fascination, which you nudge his shoulder at.

"Have you never been to the Ruins?"

"Nope, not even once. Monsters had mostly moved out of the Ruins and into the rest of the Underground by the time I was born."

"Yes, my child – I only returned here after…."

She trails off, looking a little solemn, before shaking her head slightly.

"Still, Sans, I imagine it’s a little strange for you."

He shrugs nonchalantly, looking the old stone walls over as you all walk towards the stairs leading to Toriel’s home.

"Not strange, exactly – just kinda cool to see something new."

At this you feel your stomach clench in slight sadness; you sometimes let it slip from your mind that none of your friends had seen anything other than the Underground – they had no other option. You feel a soft poke to your cheek, and turn to see Sans smirking at you. You frown, rubbing your face and poking a tongue out at him – it seemed that he was getting in a bad habit of doing that to get your attention.

Before you know it, you’re all sat at Toriel’s dining table, enjoying the heat from the fireplace; even though you’ve removed your coat, it seemed Sans was sticking with his usual attire – you swear that he more or less lived in it, apart from when he was asleep.

"So, y/n, aside from making friends, what have you been doing in Snowdin?"

Toriel looks at you with curious and warm eyes.

"Well, I did manage to meet that scientist, thanks to Sans; she’s going to phone me with a date soon to go to her lab so she can look into…things. She’s really nice too, so…I know that I’ll be safe."

Toriel smiles, throwing another thankful gaze in Sans’ direction, which he returns with an expression meaning something along the lines of ‘ _no problem_ ’.

"And I cooked for Papyrus – oh, he’s Sans’ brother. Tori, you’d love him, he’s such a sweetheart."

She smiles softly at your happy words, clearly pleased that you were in a comfortable situation.

"Well, he’ll have to come here with you some time. I would be happy to show him some recipes."

Sans grumbles slightly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Speaking of Paps, sadly, we’re on a slight time limit – he’ll appear at my station in about a half hour, so we’ll need to be back there for then."

Toriel looks slightly concerned.

"Oh dear, then you’ll need to leave quite soon?"

Sans shakes his head, closing his eyes with his trademark relaxed expression.

"Nah, it’s ok. I’ll just ‘port me and y/n back there when it’s time."

Toriel looks slightly confused, so you elaborate – she probably wouldn’t understand sci-fi terms; you’d never seen anything akin to those kind of books in her house.

"Sans can jump from one place to another with his magic. Um, thinking of which, why didn’t you just jump to the Ruins to have a look?"

He quirks his head slightly at your teleportation explanation, but catches on quickly.

"I can’t…'jump’…..to places I’ve never seen, basically. And obviously the barrier stops me from jumping anywhere on the surface, no matter how many pictures I’ve seen. But yeah – now that I’ve been here, I can get you here whenever you like."

He gives you a Cheshire cat smile, clearly pleased with your happy expression, a happiness that Toriel also expresses.

"That is indeed very unique magic! Again, thank you so much, Sans."

Sans shrugs.

"No trouble at all. I’m happy to help y/n, anyway."

Toriel suddenly seems to regard him with a searching expression, before turning to you with with a smile.

"Y/n, I almost forgot – I’ve left something in your room, as a gift."

"Oh no, Toriel, you didn’t -"

"I know. But I wanted to. Go; have a look. We are sadly short on time, after all."

She gives you a soft hug with one of her customary motherly smiles, before you stand and pad down the hall to your room. Absent-mindedly you stroke your fingers along the familiar walls as you go, before opening the door and all but gasping at your present.

Toriel had always been very talented at sewing, but you’d never thought that she’d come up with something like this – she’d made you a dress, all by hand. It was beautiful; the skirt would come just below your knee, and was a wonderful cacophony of silks and chiffon, giving it an air of softness. The bodice was a sweetheart line, also made of silk, though it was the kind that would frame your curves in the most flattering of manners – the whole thing was a mix of different shades of turquoise. You gently run your fingers through the fabric, your heart swelling with affection for your adoptive mother. Carefully you place it within your phone, wondering silently when you’d have a chance to wear it; you wanted to save it for a special occasion, but you also loved it dearly, so hoped that such an occasion would happen soon.

You all but skip back into the dining room, stopping when you realise that the room is in silence – Toriel is wearing a slightly smug expression, whilst Sans looks more or less mortified, a heavy blush on his face.

"Uh…is everything ok in here?"

Sans stands up from his seat, bolt upright, the blush on his face all the more apparent.

"Yup! Perfectly fine! Everything's great!"

Toriel chuckles, still wearing that smug expression, smiling at you in a knowing way; you simply look at them both in confusion.

"Okaaay. Um. Anyway. Tori, thank you so much - it’s so beautiful!"

Her expression changes back to her usual motherly warmth, and she moves to hug you, whilst Sans seems to lose a bit of his…confusing expression, to gain some curiosity. Neither you nor Toriel chose to indulge him, though; the dress almost seemed like a sweet secret between the two of you…at least for now.

"It’s quite alright, my child. I’m sure that it will be far more beautiful on. Now, if I’m not mistaken, you’ll both need to go – please do visit again soon, when you can."

She hugs you a little tighter, before releasing you, then turning to Sans.

"Oh, and Sans – do remember what I said, won’t you?"

His blush returns furiously, as he nods shortly with an awkward chuckle. To be honest, you were quite worried about him; you’d never seen him in such a state. He gives you a reassuring expression, seeing your worry, and Toriel chuckles again; looking at her face, you can see she’s plotting something, but you’re more than a little unsure what that thing could be.

"It was lovely seeing you, y/n, and meeting you, Sans. Now, go, before your presence is missed."

You hug her a final time, before both you and Sans wave goodbye and appear back in front of the station. And just in time too, it seemed, as Papyrus runs up in his usual fashion soon after.

"Human! Are you enjoying your first day of sentry work?"

To be honest, you couldn’t really see how sitting at a station was really ‘work’ but decided to play along.

"Yeah, it’s nice, thank you. How was training?"

He plants his hands on his hips proudly, which you can see out the corner of your eye makes Sans grin wide.

"Invigorating! As always! Now, I am off for my own personal training."

"Straight after…Undyne training?"

"But of course! Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to develop my skills further, to impress during my training with Undyne."

"I...see?"

With a quick farewell, and a mention to Sans to keep up ‘not being lazy’, he sprints off, leaving you and Sans to seek cover from the resulting small snow storm.

"I seriously admire his dedication."

"I know, my bro’s so cool."

You yawn, and stretching with a groan; all the cold weather was making your muscles feel sore. Following Sans back into the station, you silently wonder if you should try to grill him about what on earth was happening back at Toriel’s, but decide against it in the end; if he really wanted to tell you, he would, after all. Instead, you stick with safe ground, as you turn to him, resting your elbows upon the wooden counter top.

"So, does this mean it’s my go, then?"

"Huh?"

Sans regards you with a face of pure puzzlement, which you giggle at.

"The question game. Unless that ended?"

Sans’ face flashes with understanding, before relaxing into his casual smile.

"Heh, buddy, at this rate, that game will never end – it seems we both have something akin to an endless supply."

"Well, I can work with that. Ok…"

You think for a moment, Sans patiently watching your expressions. All of a sudden, you feel like slapping yourself for not asking this question sooner, and Sans chuckles softly at your obvious self loathing. You’d remembered your eventful first meeting, scares and all.

"When we first met…how did you get me to turn around? ‘Cause that sure as hell wasn’t me."

You grin good naturedly, and Sans seems to flush with sheepishness, rubbing the back of his neck and looking off to the side.

"Yeah, uh…that’s one of the things my magic can do."

"I thought you teleported?"

"Uh-huh, and something akin to controlling…."

He frowned for a moment, searching for the right word.

"...gravity? Like, the gravity of a person, or object, I guess. I think it’s a skeleton thing – Paps can do it too, though perhaps I have better control over it."

Instantly fascinated, you open your mouth to beg for a demonstration; but your expression must have been obvious. He sighs good-naturedly, before closing his eyes, and holding up a hand; you’re about to question this, when you see a stray ketchup bottle was surrounded in a coat of blue mist, and floating up. It stays suspended for about a minute, before floating back down, leaving you in stunned silence. Upon opening his eyes and seeing you in your frozen state, he uncertainly waves a hand in front of your face, his expression worried yet bemused. You blink, breaking out your stunned frozen state, surprising him with your gasp.

"That’s… _holy shit_ , Sans."

"Magic, eh?"

"…yeah."

Sans lets out a slightly giddy laugh at your expression, before sighing in a relieved manner.

"To be honest, I thought you’d be scared, or something."

"…What? Why?"

"Well, heh, people generally don’t react all that well, knowing I can make them float or whatever if I feel like it."

You frown for a second in clear disapproval at him, making him shrug in defeat, before you sigh.

"It’s not…honestly, I think it’s quite…cool. I’m fascinated by science and things like that, so that kind of thing…it’s not scary."

You smile softly at him, and the relief on his face grows more apparent as he sees your genuine expression. He then coughs slightly, appearing to think.

"Ok…oh, you spoke earlier about me cooking, so you know my star dish is obviously quiche. So, what’s your favourite thing?"

"That would probably be lasagne."

"Oh man, Paps would love that – I can hear him now!"

He puts on a pretty accurate Papyrus impression, his face twisting into an exaggerated surprised expression.

"Flat spaghetti?! What is this, human?"

You giggle, mostly at the accuracy of the impression. His eye lights seem to soften slightly as he smiles at you, before it seems that another idea has come to mind.

"Hey, d’you wanna go to Grillby’s tonight?"

"I thought Papyrus hated it there?"

"Eh, it’ll be fine, I’m sure he’ll put up with it for one night – after all, you’ve never been there."

His eyes turn dreamy, his smile growing wider – you could swear he was even drooling a little.

"They do the best burgers there. I mean it."

"Hey, I never said I didn’t want to go – I want to! I was just worried about Paps."

Sans deftly pats your shoulder for a second, before reaching for his phone, and obviously dialling is brother’s phone number, which is answered on the first ring.

"Brother! Yet another pleasant surprise, as you never phone me! The human is clearly a good influence!"

You blush slightly under the praise, which Sans smirks at.

"Talking of y/n, bro, can we take her to Grillby’s tonight?"

"Why on earth would we take her there when I can cook fantastic spaghetti?"

You don’t even bother to hide your smile, but Sans has to hold back his chuckle, something you take great mirth in.

"Well, I thought it’d be a nice change of pace! Plus, she’s never been there. It’d be nice for her to meet everyone, eh?"

There’s contemplative silence at the other end of the line, before he receives an answer.

"Hmm…alright Sans. I believe that is indeed a good enough reason! We shall meet at home at the end of the work day and then head out! Now, I must attend to my training. Farewell!"

With that, he hangs up, leaving Sans to huff out a happy sigh.

"So, when’s the end of the work day?"

Sans slowly turns to give you a wide Cheshire cat smile, leaving you slightly apprehensive.

"Now."

He promptly teleports the both of you, and you land with a huff on the sofa, Sans looking smug – he really seemed to take enjoyment in catching you off guard like that. You grumble at him slightly, standing up to take off your coat and boots, and he snickers. However, you weren't going down without a fight; you knew Papyrus' usual work hours.

"But doesn’t Papyrus work for another 4 hours?"

"Yeaaah…and technically, so do I."

"....but you’re not at work."

"Sure I am. I’m supposed to be watching for humans…so I’m watching the human."

He gives you a slow wink, and you promptly roll your eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. So what do you want to do for the next four hours?"

He stretches across the couch, grabbing two books off the stand, before chucking one of them in your direction, which you catch deftly. Looking down, you see that it’s a copy of Jane Eyre; you quirk a questioning eyebrow at him, which he shrugs at.

"I figured you’d like the classics?"

"I do, but I just wondered how you knew?"

"Heh, lucky guess….I guess."

"Well, if I’m that transparent, I can only blame my _shelf_."

He lets out a snort of surprised laughter, and you settle yourself next to him, taking note that he’s decided to read a book on…quantum physics? You throw a fascinated glance his way, which he chuckles awkwardly at, before opening his book, and you soon follow suit, deciding to follow up on that subject at a later date. For four hours, you happily throw yourself into the familiar (if not slightly tragic) love story, jumping slightly when Papyrus bursts through the door; the book is gone before you can even register what has happened, and out the corner of your eye, Sans gives you a lazy wink.

Swallowing any threatening laughter, you wave in Papyrus’ direction, which he smiles brightly at – you could swear you could almost see the waves of positivity coming off him sometimes.

"Human! Sans! You slippery snails, getting home faster than I did!"

"We only just got in bro, don’t worry."

You’re suddenly wrapped up in a Papyrus hug, making you squeak as he’s actually lifted you clean off the ground, before he holds you at arm’s length, your legs dangling awkwardly in the air.

"Human! Are you ready for a night out in Snowdin?"

"Um….I guess? What does that involve?"

"We go to Grillby’s, and _then_ -!…..we come back home and have a restful night’s sleep."

Sans sniggers then tries to cover it with a cough, earning a stern glance from Papyrus. You however give him a smile, if not a slightly pained one, as you were starting to feel a little uncomfortable at being held in mid-air.

"That sounds great, Papyrus. Can I…..put on my shoes?"

Papyrus seems to finally twig that he’s still holding you aloft, before gently placing you back down, patting the top of your head with a glove in an apologetic manner.

"Of course human. I’m sorry – I forget my strength sometimes."

Sans doesn’t even try to hide his laugh this time, which Papyrus huffs at while you put your shoes and coat back on; even if Grillby’s wasn’t a far walk, it was still too cold outside not to wear your coat – besides, you loved how comfy it was. Seeing that you were ready, both brothers lead the way for you to follow, and before you know it, you’re standing outside the warm wood exterior of Grillby’s. You take in a nervous breath, glancing sideways at Sans who gives you a reassuring look, before Papyrus opens the door with a dramatic flourish; now you understood why he was always so loud. The patrons, however, don’t even look up at his entrance, appearing to be as used to it as Sans was, which gives you plenty of time to examine the monsters around you without looking rude.

On the right side of the establishment were a number cushy looking private booths, the seats a warm red leather, all carved out of beautiful oak. Or at least, it looked like oak. The floor and bar were made up of the same wood, and the surrounding tables and chairs that took up the rest of the space were as well.

As for the patrons themselves….you’d known that monsterkind was diverse, but you weren’t quite prepared for _how_ diverse. Within the first booth was a female rabbit monster with fur a rich caramel colour; she appeared quite drunk however, as she couldn’t seem to focus her eyes or lift her head off the table – you had wondered if monsters had something akin to alcohol, and it seemed they most certainly did. You see the dog monsters that you’d met before in the corner, all playing poker (inwardly, you giggle, remembering the famous painting), with one other dog that you hadn’t met yet – it seemed to be something a little like a white Samoyed, only in armour. In the corner of the room, there was a large duke box, with an even larger chocolate brown hamster monster trying to fix it, a frustrated look upon its face. At the bar itself there was a large red bird monster (it looks a little like a cardinal), which was sat next to a fish monster which appeared to be oozing a gross goo onto the floor beneath it, huffing out nasal breaths. And last, but certainly not least, is what you would assume to be Grillby himself – he’s more or less ‘human’ in shape, wearing a smart white shirt, black waist-coat, black trousers and bow-tie, and intelligent looking glasses. In fact, there’s only one difference between him, and yourself; he’s completely made up of fire, a mix of brilliant oranges and reds.

As the three of you walk to your booth, many of the patrons yell out greetings, smiling and friendly – you immediately feel yourself relax. It seemed that Sans had been right about people around here already accepting you, which made you feel warm and happy inside.

You all sit down at a spare booth, Papyrus sitting across from both you and Sans (he was a lot taller, therefore needed a little more space), and you sigh happily as you sink into the plush seat. Before long, Grillby walks up to take your orders, holding a pencil and note pad. Papyrus hums to himself, before ordering a milkshake and salad, proclaiming that the milk was good for his bones. Sans orders a burger and fries (heavy on the ketchup), before Grillby turns to you. Sadly, you’d been so busy revelling in your surroundings, you’d not even looked at the menu; you scrabble for it in a panic, and the monsters around you chuckle, much to your chagrin.

"I’ll, uh, have the same as Sans….though perhaps not as much ketchup. And, um…."

Your eyes rake the menu confusedly, not understanding any of the drinks list, aside from the obvious milkshake. Grillby laughs softly, surprising you with how deep and melodic his voice is, all while sounding like a soft hearth – albeit a very British one (if a hearth could even sound British, that is).

"It’s quite alright, my dear, take your time. I take it you’re y/n?"

"Oh, heh, yes, I am. It’s nice to meet you."

You hold out your hand, before thinking that perhaps he wouldn’t be able to shake it, but being surprised as he almost immediately grasps it and shakes politely – his hand feels noticeably warm, but not uncomfortably so.

"It’s lovely to meet you too. Are you having some trouble with the drinks list?"

"I uh….yes."

"That’s quite alright – I think I have something you’ll enjoy, and it won’t intoxicate you, do not fret."

You smile in thanks, before you grin, realising something.

"I’m sorry for being so scatterbrained…..I just didn’t expect someone so _hot._ "

There’s a beat of silence, before Papyrus groans, planting his head on the table top, and Sans bursts out with laughter; Grillby gives a soft chuckle, looking in Sans’ direction.

"It appears you’ve met a kindred soul, Sans."

Sans wipes a tear of laughter away, grinning.

"Yeah, she’s been on a roll all day – in fact, you could almost say…."

Papyrus looks at Sans with a clear warning, which Sans promptly ignores.

"….she’s been on _fire_."

This time it’s your turn to laugh, while Grillby lets out another good natured chuckle; Papyrus simply throws his hands up in the air in defeat, muttering that _‘this was supposed to be a nice evening’_. Grillby leaves with a gentlemanly bow, before returning to the bar. You smile, happy to be where you were; it was such a comfortable and friendly atmosphere – on the surface, whenever you entered a restaurant or anything akin to it, no matter how ‘friendly’ it was, you’d always got the feeling of being stared at, or judged. Here, it hardly even felt like an official establishment; it was more like a party with only your closest friends.

"This place is great. Seriously."

Sans grins happily at you.

"Wait ‘till you’ve tried the grub."

Papyrus grimaces slightly, which Sans chuckles softly at.

"Aw, c’mon Paps – you know you like the salads here."

"Yes….I suppose so. And milk is indeed very good for your bones. Sans! You should drink more milk – this is why you’re so short."

Sans actually pouts at this, clearly sensitive about his height.

"Hey! Sans is perfectly sized – he’s way taller than me."

"Human, your kind is known for being short."

You freeze at this, looking around warily, and Sans openly laughs, especially when your attention immediately snaps to him, given your high alert.

"Relax. Everyone in Snowdin already knows that you’re human – did you forget that the dogs you made friends with are part of the Royal Guard…? Anyway, they accept you – you have no EXP, and no LV….everyone likes you, so relax, ok?"

You’re about to question this, but it’s at that moment that your food arrives – but what distracts you most is your drink, which is a vibrant gold, and giving off scents of vanilla and cinnamon. Grillby bows once more, giving you a smile, before heading back to the bar. Sans promptly all but pours ketchup on his fries, which Papyrus winces slightly at. Sans suddenly has that all familiar grin he gets before punning, and Papyrus opens his mouth in protest; but it’s far too late.

"Well….. _bone_ appetite, then."

Papyrus takes a heavy, angry gulp of milkshake, all while glaring at Sans, who simply eats a ketchup soaked fry smugly. Giggling, you take a cautious sip of your mysterious drink, gasping happily at the taste – it tasted almost perfectly of caramel, with hints of vanilla and cinnamon, and was truly the most refreshing drink you’d ever had, quenching any thirst you’d previously possessed; you’d even hazard that it was more refreshing than cold water on a summer’s day. But if you thought that the drink was good, it was nothing compared to the burger, which you all but moan at when you bite into it; everything anyone dreams of when ordering a burger is what you’d just bitten into. It was perfection.

Sans again wears that smug expression, mouthing ‘ _I told you so_ ’ as you devoured your food; the fries were also incredible, crisp and fluffy, and perfectly seasoned. You sigh happily when you’re finished, gently sipping more of your drink. Papyrus had long since finished his salad, and was also focusing on his milkshake, and Sans had appeared to have inhaled everything, and was now drinking ketchup; so you all finish your meals at the same time.

You all put down the gold on the table as payment, and head out, calling out goodbyes to the monsters still remaining; though it did appear that the caramel rabbit had fallen asleep at her table.

You’re full to the point of sleepiness, so you barely register getting home, setting up your couch bed, and saying goodnight to everyone. You simply crawl in and pull the covers up to your neck.

 

And then, without effort, you fall unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my, I wonder when reader-chan will have an opportunity to wear her pretty dress? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> Grillby is such a gentleman; don't worry, we'll be seeing much more of him in the future!
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	18. Phone Calls and Papyrus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we experience a little Royal Guard training....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

_You heave a slight sigh of relief as you find yourself in the Void; though it really wasn’t a comfortable place to be, if was far preferred to having nightmares and not getting anything akin to sleep at all._

" _Gaster! Hello?"_

_Without further adieu, Gaster appears, and seems to be wearing something akin to a smug expression._

" _Hello, y/n. I’m happy to see you making friends in Snowdin."_

" _Oh yes – it’s so lovely. I was….really scared at first, but I’m almost happy that there’s something wrong with my soul, in a way….I wouldn’t be here, otherwise."_

_Gaster smiles at this, even if the statement is a little bittersweet._

" _Everything happens for a reason, my dear….at least, that is what I like to believe."_

_You hum, a soft smile in place; it was a true statement. Even if you suffered, you always seemed to come out on the other end stronger – or happier. You just had to keep going, and perhaps it would all turn out alright…._

" _My dear?"_

_You blink, realising that you’d been lost in your thoughts for a while._

" _Oh, I’m sorry, I was..."_

" _Don’t worry, I recognise that look all too well."_

_You chuckle; you’d had to draw Gaster from his thoughts all too many a time. Gaster suddenly has that slightly smug expression upon his face once more, though it seems to be mixed with just a pinch of caution._

" _S_ _o….I see you’ve made some….quite close friends."_

" _Oh, do you mean Papyrus and Sans?"_

_He seems to twitch at this statement, before nodding, leaving you a little concerned._

" _Are you….ok?"_

" _Yes, yes, quite alright. In any case….what do you think….of them?"_

" _Uh? I like them a lot – Papyrus is an absolute sweetheart, so positive and driven; he’s very inspiring to me. I mean….he just doesn’t give up, you know?"_

_Gaster seems to almost glow with your statement; you assume he’s really happy that you’ve made such a great friend._

" _And Sans….Sans is someone like me. I can….trust him. Plus, he’s got the best sense of humour."_

_You giggle at this, and Gaster regards you with something close to amusement, all while still looking incredibly happy._

" _I’m….glad that you feel so strongly. It’s good for you to make friends, y/n."_

_You feel yourself smiling brightly, before Gaster frowns to himself, seeming to contemplate something, as his eye lights slowly start to carry something akin to determination._

" _Y/n, I know this may not make much sense at the moment, but there is something very important that I must ask of you."_

" _S_ _ure Dings, go right ahead."_

" _..I know that you also intend to, at some point, look into why you can seemingly enter the Void with ease while you sleep….but, please, do not, at any point, mention me. Please?"_

_Feeling a little confused, you nod your head; despite you not getting why he doesn’t want anyone to know of his existence in this place, you would respect his wishes._

" _T_ _hat’s ok. But you know, they’re all going to know at some point….especially when I get you out of here."_

_He chuckles softly, his expression growing fond._

" _I believe you, my dear. Now, I honestly think you should try to get some actual sleep."_

_You groan, looking at him imploringly._

" _Gaster, I can’t sleep well, you know that."_

" _I only know what I see, my dear y/n – I know your dreams trouble you, but I…."_

_He sighed, pinching what you imagine to be the bridge of his ‘nose’._

" _...you won’t rest here, you know that. Not properly, anyway."_

_You grumble, knowing that he was right, and not liking it one bit. He pats your head with a soft laugh, and you grumble more, but smile despite it._

" _Ok, ok, you win. I’ll see you around, Gaster."_

" _Yes, my dear. Do take care, now."_

_You head out, willing yourself into your dreams…._

 

… _.and hoping for good ones._

 

You awake with a jolt, almost falling off the couch in shock – an incredibly loud bang in the kitchen had awoken you.

Cautiously you peel back the covers and creep over, but when you hear a soft swearing in a deep recognisable voice, you instantly feel yourself relax. Sans is standing by the fridge, looking down at the dropped pan as if it had personally offended him.

"Well, you certainly know how to start the conversation off with a _bang_."

You swear he jumps so hard you can hear his bones rattle; he gasps heavily, his eye lights small to the point of being pinpricks as he looks over at you.

"Geez, y/n! You scared the soul out of me."

Quirking your head slightly in fascination at the monster variation of the saying, you grin sheepishly.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jump."

"Did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but don’t worry about it – I was gonna wake up soon anyway, I think."

He looks slightly confused at your statement.

"Have a feeling I was gonna meet with a nice friendly nightmare, so I think you did me a favour, if anything."

Sans huffs out a gentle sigh, looking at you ruefully, before picking up the offensive saucepan, and placing it on the stove.

"I was gonna make some hot chocolate – want some?"

"Sure, thank you."

You draw up a chair and watch as he grabs some milk, warming it gently, before breaking chunks of milk chocolate in and melting it down with some liquid magic. He pours the completed hot chocolate into two mugs, before plonking in some marshmallows to melt into gooey deliciousness. Picking up both mugs, he shuffles to the table, sliding your mug to you with a sleepy smile.

"Here ya go. Hope it’s ok."

"It looks delicious, honestly. Thank you."

You both sit in silence for a little while, sipping the sweet beverage, until Sans sighs.

"I keep having these dreams….they’re horrible."

You glance at him with sympathetic eyes; he looks so….worn out. The bags under his eyes are more pronounced than ever, the corners of his mouth drooping down, his eye lights hazy with fatigue.

"Everyone….everyone leaves. They’re all….they’re nothing but _dust_. And then….it’s just me, y/n. I can’t do anything to stop it, I just….stand by and watch. And then….I wake up, and I’m alone. I have to go check on Pap, just to make sure…."

You place a hand over his, and he looks at you in surprise. You sigh with uncertainty for a second, before gathering up enough courage to speak – after all, he had shared a little with you, it only seemed fair to do the same.

"I have this one dream….where I’m standing, and all these people have their backs to me. They’re all whispering, and laughing, looking back at me. I try to speak, but I can’t – it’s almost like my words are frozen. And they’re just….laughing. Then I don’t know….I start to _freeze_ , like, ice over. I try to call for help, and it hurts, but they’re just laughing, and pointing. So….I know a little bit, what it’s like, not being able to do anything. I know that it’s scary, and lonely. I’m sorry….but I’m here for you, ok?"

You look up, and find to your astonishment that Sans has covered his face with his other hand. Hearing a slight sniffle is all the encouragement you need to give him a hug, which at first makes him freeze up a little, before he relaxes with a sigh.

"Thanks bud. It means a lot, you have no idea."

"Wanna hang out on the couch for a bit?"

"Fuck yes."

You giggle a little, releasing him, and he grins at you, showing no sign at all that he was close to tears all but a few seconds ago. Each of you grab your mugs of chocolate deliciousness, before sinking into the soft embrace of the sofa; you allow a sigh of satisfaction to leave you, drawing a small chuckle out of your skeletal companion. You both go back to sitting in silence, only it holds a comfort that only opening up can hold. After a few minutes of this, you glance at Sans only to notice him examining you with curious eye lights.

"What?"

He seemingly shakes himself out of his thoughts, realises that he’d been staring, then proceeds to hurriedly apologise, before you start to laugh, effectively hushing him. He offers you a small smile, still clearly trying to apologise, but seeing how little it effects you seems to pacify him to some extent. There’s another pause as you both finish off your chocolate comfort, with Sans grabbing your empty mug and teleporting it into the sink along with his. You sink a little deeper into the couch as the warmth from the drink echoes throughout your body, and Sans sinks with you; before he breaks the silence with a gentle cough.

"Um, I….I was just wondering….how you got to the Underground?"

"Huh….yeah, I’ve never mentioned it before….sorry. Well, I fell….down a hole?"

He promptly throws you a ‘no shit’ look.

"Yeah, ok, ok….well, it kind of started with me….I climbed up Mt. Ebott, to….be happy?"

You frown to yourself, trying to find the right wording.

"I then found this cave, and I was exploring….then I found a hole, and fell in. Tah-dah."

Sans grumbles a little.

"Yeah, I get that you fell down a hole, but….why did you climb the mountain in the first place?"

"...I did it to be happy. That’s all."

There’s a soft silence as he looks at you, an expression that you can’t quite describe etched upon his features. He then huffs out a sigh, before leaning back into the soft couch.

"….and are you? Happy, I mean."

"….I am."

His eye lights trail over to you in shock.

"No, really. I am. I….wasn’t doing too well up on the surface. Since coming here….well, it’s the first time I can truly say that I’ve felt anything akin to happiness. I have friends, I have people to laugh with…."

You trail off, feeling a little awkward. You jump as you feel a hand slide over yours, and look up to see Sans giving you warm look.

"...I’m glad. Most people would run away in your situation, you know?"

"Pfft. No they wouldn’t. Honestly, meeting everyone has been the best thing I could ever hope for."

Sans laughs softly at that. There’s a sudden loud bang from upstairs, and you both more or less jump off the couch in shock.

Papyrus, however, stands on the landing outside his room, regarding the two of you with a mixture of happy approval, and confusion.

"Human! Sans! This show of enthusiasm for the day is quite the shock….but regardless! Sans! I am proud of you being up earlier than I, the great Papyrus!"

He ‘nyehs’ in happiness, before stomping down the stairs and into the kitchen, whilst you and Sans stare in mute shock, not quite processing what had just happened. Papyrus soon exits the kitchen when he realises that he’d been met with silence; he stands with his gloved hands upon his hip...bones?….examining the two of you worriedly. You rouse your self first, and quickly thinking on the spot, you promptly flop onto the carpet, and roll to Papyrus’ feet, whilst the brothers stare at your antics in confusion.

"Hey there, Papyrus. I guess you could say I’m….on a _roll_ this morning."

The following silence is broken at first by Sans’ loud laugh, and then by Papyrus’ even louder screech.

"SANS!"

"What? I didn’t say it, bro. Besides…."

He reaches over, and pats your head, which you frown confusedly at.

"….don’t you like our new _car_ pet?"

Instead of the expected screech, Sans is met with a pretty dead-panned expression; Papyrus had never looked so done.

"Sans."

"Yeah bro?"

"That was bad. Even for you."

He promptly stomps back into the kitchen, grumbling to himself as the combined sound of your and Sans’ laughter follows him.

 

_~_

 

 

"I was wondering, human, if you would like to train with me today?"

"Uh?"

Papyrus is practically vibrating with excitement, while Sans appears to more or less be falling asleep into his bowl of porridge; you hadn’t quite had the energy to make pancakes this morning.

"Sure? But what would that….entail?"

Papyrus ‘nyeh heh hehs’ in happiness, before waggling his brow bones.

"It shall remain a secret for now, human. However, I can promise this!"

He stands up promptly, striking a pose.

"It will be a day of hi-jinks! Exercise! And….fun!"

He grins at you with that unbridled confidence, and despite how tired you felt, you matched his pose, albeit with a little less grace (you manage to thump in the table as you stand, causing Sans to wake up with an alarmed snort).

"I look forward to it, great Papyrus!"

Sans looks at you both in tired confusion, before shrugging and attempting to eat his porridge without falling asleep in it.

 

 

~

 

And that is how you found yourself attempting to jog through the snow, all while Papyrus ran next to you, offering the occasional, ‘ _I believe in you, human!_ ’, as you struggled for breath. Eventually, however, your body simply gives up the fight, and you happily fall face first into the oddly comfy snow. Papyrus comes to a screeching halt, but you care little about this, as you contemplate how unhealthy it would be to fall asleep with a face full of snow.

"...Human? Are you….alright?"

You let out a muffled affirmative; even if you felt like death, you didn’t really want the visual representation of death next to you to feel any concern. You’re suddenly unceremoniously flipped over, which makes you groan, as you see the worried face of Papyrus.

"Hi Paps."

"Hello human."

"I’m sorry, just thought I’d…. _cool_ off."

He thinks on what you said for a moment, before face palming with a groan. He then extends a hand to help you up, which you do not take, earning a confused look from him.

"I...can’t really move at the moment, to be honest."

Papyrus actually laughs softly at this, which surprises you; you’d only really heard him yelling laughter, or shrieking to cover it.

"You did very well, human. Not many monsters can keep up with Royal Guard training; you should be proud that you managed to almost complete it! Now, I believe I can offer you some rest -"

He quickly and expertly picks you up and plops you into a makeshift piggy back, making you squeak in surprise. He ignores this, however, as he continues to run the training course. To be honest, you _were_ quite proud of yourself, especially after hearing Papyrus congratulate you – the course was something akin to something you’d see the army attempting to complete. You’d always considered yourself to be fairly average in terms of fitness, but with Papyrus cheering you on, you’d completed a lot more than you ever thought possible; or perhaps it also had something to do with your constant magic diet? Either way, you didn’t feel ashamed to be carried through the rest of the course.

Papyrus is shockingly agile – even with the added weight of you upon his back, he jumps and dodges the obstacles with grace and precision. Eventually, you both reach the end, and Papyrus breaks his run into a soft jog, as he brings you over to a bench, where he gently lays you down.

"Holy shit Papyrus, that was amazing!"

Papyrus frowns at you slightly.

"Language."

"Oh, I’m sorry. Uh….holy moly, Papyrus, that was amazing!"

He allows himself to grin then.

"Thank you, human!"

"But seriously; you’re a total expert at this stuff."

"Nyeh heh heh, if you think I’m good human, you should really see Undyne. This course is nothing for the Guard Captain!"

"I’m sure. But still, it’s very impressive! Hmm….I wonder if I’ll be able to move tomorrow…?"

"Do not fret human, you’ll be fine in a few minutes!"

Before you can ask him how on earth he would know something like that, he’s kneeling by you, holding his hands above where your soul lay, his hands bathed in green healing magic.

"Oh wow, Papyrus – you know healing magic?"

He nods slightly, his brow furrowed in concentration, but he does manage to throw you a small smile through it. As Papyrus healed your aching muscles, you had to notice that it carried a very different feeling than when Toriel had used healing magic on you; her magic had carried the essence of motherly kindness and warmth, whilst Papyrus’ carried a confident happiness and friendly concern – magic truly was a direct projection of a person’s emotions, it seemed. You could feel his determination to make you feel better in the best way possible, and it made you chuckle a little under your breath.

Before long, Papyrus retracted his hands, and you sat up gingerly; however, there was no need, as instead of the pain of overused muscles, it was almost as if you’d skipped the pain stage and had gone straight to the satisfaction of knowing you’d had a good workout.

"Wow, Paps! Yet another thing you’re good at, it seems."

Papyrus ‘nyeh heh hehs’ softly, a slight blush upon his face as he stands.

"Another part of Guard training, human – but I have to admit, my healing magic is of a high standard; Undyne said so!"

You smiled softly; he really seemed to admire this Undyne person. You could only hope that if and when you finally met, you would get on – not only would you love to meet and make new friends, it was important to you that Papyrus’ happiness would be assured.

"Thank you, human."

You look at him in surprise, only to realise that you’d spoken out loud without meaning to; curse your lack of sleep.

"I mean it, Paps – oh, and I was going to ask….why do you just call me human?"

He looks stumped for a moment.

"Well…..you are one?"

"I am indeed. But I do have a name, you know?"

He thinks for another moment on this.

"I do agree, but it seems far more fitting to give you a nick-name, given the fact that we are friends who are already on nickname basis."

"...so human is a nickname?"

Papyrus hums to himself.

"Hmm, you bring up a valid point. ‘Human’ is a very boring nickname, not fitting of your level of friendship….I know!"

His sudden shriek makes you jump, and he pets you apologetically.

"Sorry, I did not mean to frighten you, but the thought was simply too exciting due to it’s perfection!"

"Okay then, well, run it by me!"

"I shall call you ‘sister’!"

If you’d been drinking anything at that point, you’d have spat it out in shock.

"No, really! It makes perfect sense. You are going to be living in our house – you and Sans share that terrible sense of humour – and our friendship is close to sibling level! So it only makes sense!"

You head is reeling from the silly situation; you’d met this skeleton all of three days ago, yet it seemed that he already trusted you to this extent. Mind you, you and Toriel had become perfectly close more or less upon seeing each other for the first time; perhaps that was just how monsters worked. Still, with this…..you suddenly realise something, and feel a slight grin form on your lips, which Papyrus takes as confirmation for his nickname, ‘nyeh’ing in happiness; when in reality, you had been imagining the shock you’d get to see when Sans heard his brother calling you that.

"Well then, sister! I believe that we should -"

He’s cut off by the ringing of your phone, and you glance at him apologetically; he waves you off with a smile as you pick up.

"Hello?"

"O-oh, is th-this y/n?"

You smile, albeit a little nervously, as you recognise the voice.

"Hey there, Alphys. What’s up?"

"O-oh, nothing much! I w-was just wondering if y-you’d be free tomorrow. F-for an initial examination?"

"Yup, I think so! What time do you want me to be there?"

"A-anytime around m-midday, y/n. W-we can also t-try to organise an a-anime night!"

"Sounds like a plan! I’ll see you then."

"O-okay! Bye, y/n!"

"Bye, Alphys!"

Papyrus looks at you questioningly as you hang up. For a second you’re nervous, wondering what you should say, but then you abruptly decide that the truth was always the way to go; you trusted Papyrus, and it was obvious that he already highly valued your friendship.

"I….I need to get my….soul checked out by Alphys at her lab. She was just calling to arrange a time."

"I see. Well, sister, I do hope that it goes well!"

You’re surprised for a second that he doesn’t even want you to elaborate, before a happy warmth fills you; he didn’t want to push you. Not even a little. He cared that much about your feelings.

You surprise him with the suddenness of your hug, but he pats the top of your head regardless.

"Papyrus….you’re just so cool."

"Why, thank you, sister! Now, as I was about to say before, let us go home, and surprise Sans with the best friendship spaghetti possible!"

And with that, you both set out back home; you already knew that it was more than possible that Sans would already be there, given his secret book reading habit.

 

~

You’re all sat down eating the delicious pasta when your evil plan final reaches the apex.

"Sister, could you please pass the pepper?"

Sans near enough spits his ketchup halfway across the table, earning a loud and slightly alarmed laugh from you, and a disapproving glare from Papyrus.

"Sans! What have I told you about ruining the wood of our dining table?!"

"I’m s-sorry, but…. _what_ did you call y/n?"

"...oh, it is her new nickname, brother! We have reached a friendship level nearing the perfection of siblings, so I decided it would be appropriate."

Sans looks at you in confusion, and try as you might to swallow your laughter, you fail miserably; Sans eventually joins in when his shock fades, leaving Papyrus to give you both a confused look.

"What? What did I say?"

You pat Papyrus’ arm, simultaneously passing the pepper.

"It’s ok Papyrus, Sans is just being silly."

Papyrus chuckles, taking the pepper.

"Do not worry sister; he is always being silly."

 

Sans pouts good-naturedly, and you all get back to your delicious dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, that dream is actually mine....not nice! >.<  
> And have I mentioned what an utter sweetheart Papyrus is?.....he's such a cinnamon roll o(≧∇≦o)
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


	19. The First Examination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet a mysterious robed figure....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

Thankfully, last night was one of the few that granted you dreamless sleep; you awoke feeling relatively refreshed, having caught up on three nights of bad sleep. You let your mind wander a little as you stared up at the ceiling – when you dreamt of nothing, were you simply floating in the Void, with no Gaster to talk to….?

Shaking yourself out of that disturbing thought, you sat up from your cosy sofa burrito and stretched, your spine letting out a loud snap as your muscles loosened up. Pushing the covers off, you stood and grabbed your shower stuff, heading to the bathroom; no matter how hard you tried, you still couldn’t quite figure out which ‘bone shampoo’ belonged to which brother – though it did seem that Papyrus would suit ‘intoxicating orange’, given his vibrant personality.

Having finished your shower, you got dressed (a simple white t-shirt and your faithful jeans; you really would have to wash the latter at some point), and proceeded to the kitchen, where yet another note from Papyrus had been left for you.

 

_Sister! I do hope that you slept better last night, as sleep is very important! I have gone for my training with Undyne, so you need not worry about meeting with her when you travel to see Alphys. I have left Sans to accompany you, so do remember that shaking him is a truly efficient way of waking him up. I hope that you are successful in your mission – I, the great Papyrus, believe in you!_

 

_From Papyrus_

 

You put down the letter slowly, humming to yourself with thought. It seemed Papyrus noticed far more than he let on – you hadn’t even realised he’d known about how little sleep you’d been having. Silently you wondered to yourself what else he noticed, before turning your attention to what you should make for breakfast. Instead of making pancakes, you choose to re-create the hash you’d made that fateful day at Toriel’s; hopefully Sans would approve, or at least find it worthy of waking up to….besides, it went well with his favourite condiment.

Plating up the hash, you snag a bottle of ketchup, and leave your own plate on the side; you didn’t really mind if it got a little cold. You pad up the carpeted stairs and knock on his door, flinching in surprise as the door is opened, revealing a slightly dishevelled, but very awake Sans.

“Oh! You surprised me. Good morning! I brought breakfast.”

His eye-lights travelled down to the plate of hash with a hungry expression, then he met your gaze with a grin.

“Once again, y/n, you’re a life saver.”

“But you’re actually awake this morning?”

“Trust me, bud, I do not feel it.”

He appears to think for a second, before his face lights up slightly.

“Hey, would you object to eating somewhere a little….. _cool_?”

You frown slightly, and he laughs at the gentle disdain upon your features.

“What, outside?”

“Trust me! I have a good spot.”

You sigh, before humming an affirmative. He quickly chucks a blanket around you and embraces you, managing to avoid the plate of hash in your hands, before you both appear on…

“The roof?”

“Yeah. Nice view.”

You chuckle, but you have to agree with him; there’s a gentle fog seeping in from the tree line around Snowdin, the residents starting to wake up and go about their daily business. In fact, it would have been perfect, if you hadn’t left your own breakfast in the kitchen. However, as you turn to Sans to mention this, you see him holding out your formerly abandoned plate with a cheeky grin which gives you an automatic smile of your own – you both swap plates, trying not to laugh (and really not succeeding). Sans then lifts a hand up, activating his magic in order to remove the snow from where, you assumed, you were going to sit, but you were too busy staring at him to really pay attention to that.

You’d never noticed (you supposed because he’d always made an effort to shut his eyes when he used magic around you), but as he lifted that snow off the roof, you were met with an eerie, yet oddly beautiful sight. His left socket was completely devoid of his usual eye light, an empty and endless black; but his right was almost aflame with a ring of turquoise blues and the occasional flash of yellow – the sight was incredibly alien, yet memorising.

He huffs in a pleased way when he finally completes his task, before he turns to you; then simply freezes in place when he realises his mistake.

“Uh…”

His eye-lights more or less shrink down to pinpricks as he looks at you, and you can swear you can see him starting to sweat.

“Shit, I’m sor-”

“Wow! Sans, that was….so cool!”

“…. _cool_?”

“Yeah! I mean, wow, I’ve never seen anything like that before!”

“…..you’re not scared?”

You look at him confusedly as you both sit down on the space he’d cleared; he seemed a lot more relaxed now he knew you weren’t terrified, but he was still a little dubious.

“No? Honestly it was….”

You look down at your hash bashfully.

“...kinda beautiful? I mean, I really like….the colours…..of your magic, I mean.”

You know you’d said something quite embarrassing in your hurry to be honest, so you don’t bother to look up; instead, you focus on your hash, enjoying a few mouthfuls before becoming uncomfortable with the silence. Gathering yourself mentally, you bring yourself to look at him, and inwardly wince; his eye-lights were frozen in place, his expression and body equally frozen.

“Um, Sans?”

He seemed to mentally and physically shake himself, his face lighting up with blush.

“Are you….ok?”

He nodded hurriedly, before taking in a massive mouthful of hash and pausing at the taste.

“Wow, y/n, this is really good, as usual…….and…..thank you. I’m glad you’re not scared of me.”

He blushes again, taking a gulp of ketchup, and you find yourself laughing, even if you’d just potentially (definitely) embarrassed yourself; seeing him so flustered was kind of hilarious. Your laughter broke any residual awkwardness, as he mock glared at you for laughing at him, and you both ate your breakfast in peaceful silence, watching the mist roll in gently, giving the trees and town a slightly spooky, yet serene mood. As soon as you both had finished, Sans gripped your side and transported you both to the couch – he hadn't even bothered to stand up, which made you laugh; and you started to laugh even more when you noticed that he’d also teleported the plates into the sink. He smiled smugly in response to your incessant giggles, his face growing more serious as your laughter eventually subsided.

“So, y/n….you ok? I know, uh, today’s kinda….”

You hum softly, leaning back into the comfort of the couch.

“I’m a little nervous, yeah. But, I mean, I’m probably not going to get any immediate information, y’know? It’s quite….difficult, right?”

Sans shifts a little, his expression melding into one of deep thought.

“It really depends on the problem, I guess.”

You knew that he was itching to say more, but for some odd reason was holding back.

“You seem to know more about this kind of thing than you let on, you know….I mean, forgive me if I’m overstepping the mark, or anything, but….”

Sans lets out a slightly groaned laugh, covering his face and leaning back simultaneously. You feel some relief that he’s not too discomforted by your question, but it’s obvious that he’s not exactly happy about your observation.

“Should’ve guessed you’d see through that.”

“Well, to be honest, I’ve seen you reading books on quantum physics and getting excited by biology. It kind of….”

“Yeah, I get it. I used to work in the lab, a long time ago, with my….dad. But that….”

He lets out a heavy sigh, his eye-lights growing distant, a frown pulling at the corners of his almost permanent smile.

“….that was a long time ago.”

You’re about to reach out to apologise, but he turns to you before you can even raise your hand from your lap, his smile returning, if not a little nervously.

“Sorry, y/n. Didn’t mean to make you feel awkward or anything.”

“You didn’t. Not even a little.”

His smile shifts into something more genuine at that, his eye-lights softening.

“Still, you’re right, anyway. I know a little about souls, but not quite in the same way as Alphys – plus, she has a lot of equipment to analyse base traits, and things like that.”

You nod softly, before sighing and standing up.

“Ok then. So….how are we getting there?”

Sans grins and lets out a soft snort at this, standing up with you.

“Buddy, you really want to walk it? Takes a good four hours, and that’s if you run.”

You don’t quite let out anything as cliché as a gasp, but you get pretty close to it; you knew that Snowdin wasn’t exactly small, nor were the Ruins, but it was a bit of a shock to think how big the Underground might actually be.

“Nah, I wouldn’t be that mean – we have two options. Obviously, quickest route would be to ‘port it there. But we also have a kind of ferry, that’ll take us direct; sorta the scenic route. All up to you, really.”

Sans can already see the answer on your face, it seems, and he lets out an exaggerated sigh, faking a pained look.

“Scenic route it is, then.”

“Haha, I’m sorry! It’s just that I’ve not seen much of the rest of the Underground -”

“Heh, don’t worry. I’ll be sure to show you some more at some point, anyways.”

You’re shrugging on your coat at this point, and stop, touched by the sweet suggestion. Appearing to notice, Sans rubs the back of his neck with a soft laugh, giving you a shrug. You pull on your boots, smiling happily, once again marvelling how you’d gotten so lucky to have such pleasant people in your life.

You both crunch out onto the fresh snow, and wave to passing monsters as you follow Sans to the riverbank. As you watch chunks of ice race by, you’re about to turn to Sans to ask how long you’d have to wait – then you feel your words physically freeze in your throat as a boat draws up. You’d always been quite keen on Greek mythology, and the scene in front of you looks as if it had walked (or rather, floated) straight out of one; the boat and boatman were exactly what you’d pictured when reading about the ferryman for the River Styx. The boat itself was crafted out of a dark wood, almost ebony – simple in design, a little like a Gondola, though perhaps a little wider...and seemed to have a cat face serving as a figurehead. The oarsman was…..a _little_ disturbing, to say the least. It was simply a robed, hooded figure, but that wasn’t the disturbing part – it was more that you couldn’t see what was under the hood, not even a little. It was as black as the Void under there; you could barely suppress your shudder. It didn’t help when the figure spoke; their voice almost echoed, soft and oddly androgynous.

“ _Tra la la_. I am the riverman. Or am I the riverwoman….? It doesn’t really matter. I love to ride my boat. Would you care to join me?”

You look uncertainly at Sans, who nods in confirmation.

“Um, yes please. Can you take us to….”

You pause, trying hard to remember the name of Alphys’ lab, before Sans steps in to save you.

“...Hotland.”

“ _Tra la la_.”

The figure sings softly once more, simply nodding at you. Still feeling uncomfortable around the character, as they were nothing like any other monster you’d met until this point, you step into the boat (which is shockingly sturdy – it barely even wobbles as you step inside), and sit down, Sans taking the seat opposite you. The boat then takes off at an alarming speed, something you’d expect more from a motorboat; you start in surprise, and Sans barely suppresses his laughter, which you grumble at, your slight anxiety over the situation making you frown. Instead of giving him the satisfaction of seeing it, however, you watch the water zoom past, fighting the temptation of letting your fingers trail in it; you knew that it would would be _ice_ cold. Having calmed yourself a little, you lean forward and whisper to Sans, who still wears an amused smile.

“Hey. So, who’s…?”

“Oh, the Riverperson?”

“...is that actually their name?”

Sans shrugs, his smile falling a little.

“To be honest, nobody actually knows. Some think that they might be the oldest monster down here, along with the king and queen. But nobody’s sure. They don’t give out any information about themselves….well, not directly, anyways. They just kind of -”

“ _Tra la la_. Don’t snoop behind people’s houses….you might be mistaken for a trash can.”

“-…..sing random advice. Or facts.”

Sans frowns a little at the Riverperson, whilst you now have to suppress your laughter at seeing him being cut off by such a silly piece of advice.

Before long however, you feel the icy atmosphere around you begin to fade, and sweat begin to roll down you neck at the increasing heat. You shift at the unpleasantness, bearing with it for a few moments before shedding your coat and stowing it away in your phone; you couldn’t do much about your boots at this point, so you could only hope the journey to the lab would be a short one. However, you didn’t quite expect it to get even _hotter_ – it was soon akin to a scorching summer’s day, and only getting worse. When the boat comes to a stop at last, and you’re slightly surprised that the water around you isn’t starting to boil with the heat. Wiping sweat from your brow, you step out of the boat after Sans.

“Thank you, Riverperson.”

“ _Tra la la_.”

You only get their usual singsong in reply as they speed away, and you grumble to yourself, both at the heat and at the enigma that was Riverperson. You follow Sans up the stony path; he frustratingly looks fairly normal, still donned in his usual hoodie.

“Geez, ‘Hotland’ is pretty apt a name. How are you not hot, wearing that hoodie all the time?”

Sans gasps in mock offense, wiping imaginary tears away; before breaking into laughter at the deadpan expression you wear.

“Ok, ok, sorry! You just damaged my delicate ego, you can’t expect me not to feel hurt.”

He pouts at you, which breaks your serious expression; try as you might, you just couldn’t feel any kind of animosity towards Sans – truthfully, you usually felt too happy around him to feel anything else.

“Well, I’m very sorry for not _stoking_ the _flame_ that is your ego. If it helps, your looks are truly _scorching_ with attractiveness.”

“Well, it really _boils_ down to my genes. _Oven_ as we speak, I bet you’re still feeling the _burn_.”

“Urgh, I _heat_ to say it, but I’m going to have to place you under a- _roast_ for those terrible puns.”

“Aw, c’mon, my humour’s not as bad as it _steams._ Besides, it’s not my fault you got all _hot_ and bothered.”

“Uh, now you’re attacking my delicate ego? It’s going to leave one hell of a mental _braise.”_

Sans stops for a moment at this, before bursting into laughter and applauding, which you bow graciously at, laughing along with him. When you both can at last catch your breath, Sans pats your shoulder.

“Oh man, I swear, no one can keep up with me when it come to puns but you. Happy, happy day.”

“Heh, seems you’re a simple guy to please.”

He smiles a little sadly at this remark before replying.

“Buddy, you have no idea.”

You both walk in relatively comfortable silence after that – Sans seems himself pretty quickly, smiling slightly and every so often bringing up a few more temperature related puns, but you’re faced with several things that make your walk less than happy. For one, it’s so hot you swear you can feel the rocky pathway melting the bottom of your shoes – you know now that you’ll most definitely have to wash your jeans, lest you plan to smell of the buckets of sweat you’re giving off. But your main concern is what you could have said that made Sans suddenly turn so morose; your intuition told you not to push this with him – if he wanted, you’re sure he would tell you in his own time. But that didn’t stop you from feeling bad about it, and wishing you at least knew which landmines to avoid…..you didn’t like the idea of hurting him, not one bit.

“Y/n, you think any harder and I think you’re gonna steam your brain – that is, unless the heat hasn’t done that already.”

You’re brought out of your reverie by the familiar feeling of Sans poking your cheek; as you look at him in miserable, sweaty silence, his expression changes from one of cheeky amusement to one of slight concern, as he leans in with a slightly hushed voice.

“….that can’t actually happen, can it?”

“….I hate to say it, but….kinda? Humans can get something called heat stroke, and -”

You’re cut off from saying anything else with a yelp, as Sans suddenly grabs and teleports you both; you’re now stood in front of a simple, but huge, white building, with mirrored automatic doors. You assumed this was the lab – mainly due to the fact that the word ‘lab’ was written in large black lettering above the door.

You can’t observe your surroundings for long, however, as Sans all but shoves you through the entrance, his expression almost pained with concern as he mutters under his breath.

“Oh my god, what was I thinking, letting you walk all this way…..”

“Sans, honestly, I’m fine! The signs of heat stroke start with a headache mostly, and I feel pretty good; aside from being gross and sweaty, heh.”

He finally stops with the incessant pushing as the doors close behind you, and you sigh happily as air conditioning sweeps over you, granting you almost instant relief. Sans is also wearing a relieved expression, though this is obviously due to the fact he didn’t have to worry about your brain ‘getting steamed’ any more.

You’re distracted before you can even fathom teasing him about it by the sound of claws tapping along the marble floor as Alphys approaches with a meek smile; she’s wearing a lab coat, which partly makes you feel a little nervous, but this is mostly overridden by how much it suits her, and her character.

“Y-y-you made it! A-are you ok? You look a little f-flushed.”

“I’m fine! Honest. I should have really expected it to be scorching….I mean, it is called Hotland, after all.”

She laughs quietly, before her expression straightens out into something a little more business like, though it still carries her nervous friendliness.

“O-ok. We’ll start with a b-basic look today, so we c-can get a good idea of your g-general biology, and s-soul base.”

“Uh….what does that….”

“Oh, I-I’m so s-sorry! A soul base i-is basically and overall l-look at your main t-traits, though it’s a little m-more thorough than j-just looking.”

You simply nod, processing the information quietly; or rather, you would be, but you’re interrupted by a poke to your cheek.

“Geez, _what_ is your fascination with my cheeks?”

Sans looks mildly surprised at your exclamation, a faint blush on his face, before he coughs slightly (something that still fascinated you, as you have no idea if he had lungs – but you knew his answer would be something along the lines of ‘magic’).

“Sorry, just seems a good way of getting your attention.”

“Welp, mission achieved. What’s up?”

“Oh, I…..I just wondered if you wanted me here….or not.”

Before you can answer, Alphys is suddenly babbling in a panic by your side.

“S-Sans! Y-you can’t…..I-I mean, i-it’s going to be….v-very _private_. I-I’ll….h-have to b-bring out h-her _soul_ , y-you know?”

Sans blushes furiously, before nodding, looking away.

“Yup. Staying here. Still, here for you if you need me, y/n.”

You chuckle nervously, patting his arm, before you and Alphys leave him in an almost living room type area (there’s a pleasant amount of beanbags around the squishy looking yellow couch and coffee table – it seemed almost more of a home made cinema, but without the screen). You both walk silently down a stark white corridor, your footsteps echoing slightly; it made you shiver a little inside, the general feeling reminding you strongly of hospitals, which you hated. Alphys guides you into a small room, a comforting, though slightly nervous smile upon her snout.

“O-ok, y/n, first we’ll take down all your biological details; weight, height….a-and….I’m so-sorry, I’ll have to d-draw a little b-blood too.”

“That’s fine; I’m used to that kind of thing by now.”

She quickly goes through the necessary tests, jotting down all the information carefully on a notepad; you had to admire her dedication. When interacting socially, she was so nervous and unsure – seeing her in her element, seeing her so focused…..it was nice. You saw her wince a little as she drew your blood, but your reassuring look seemed to help her a little; you couldn’t blame her. Sticking something sharp into someone, enough to draw blood…..it was a creepy thought.

She deftly placed the blood samples into a machine for analysis, before guiding you out of the room and into another, though this was much larger; it contained several large machines that you couldn’t recognise.

“T-This is where we-we’ll analyse your s-soul traits. P-please, s-sit here a-and relax as much as possible.”

She gestures to something similar to an operating table, though much more comfortable thankfully, with a slightly raised back to put you in a ‘lounging’ position. You sit yourself gingerly into the cushioned furniture, as she starts to stick little pads along your collar bone, then asks you to place one directly in the centre of your chest, which you do. If you didn’t know any better, you’d have thought that she was preparing you for an ECG exam. She quickly clicks her way over to another machine, something you’d compare to a control panel, which she starts to press buttons on.

“…..will it hurt?”

She looks up at your quiet question, her eyes behind her glasses confused, and you train your gaze down at the floor with slight shame.

“….the test. Is any of it….going to hurt?”

“….Y/n.”

You look back up at your name, only to see Alphys regarding you with an almost fierce kindness; and you could immediately tell that she would do all in her power to avoid any kind of pain for you.

“...d-don’t worry. Y-you’ll o-only feel when y-your soul comes out. E-everything else is p-painless. Ok?”

You smile at her, which she returns, as she presses a few more buttons. She then suddenly pauses, and looks up at you with a smug smile and an odd excited squeak – her expression mimicked one of realisation, of puzzle pieces coming together. You both sit in silence like that for a while before you break it.

“Uh…..what?”

“O-oh, nothing. I-I just had a s-sudden thought.”

“….ok? What about?”

“It’s a-a new ship.”

“…..huh? Sorry, you’ve totally lost me.”

“S-shipping? I’ve j-just come up with a new OTP.”

You knew that she was using anime terms with you about character relationships, but you still had no idea what it had to do with anything at the present moment. Seeing your confused blinking, Alphys openly laughs, surprising you; she had a very pleasant laugh, light and gentle, with the occasional cute snort. She waved a hand at you, pressing a few more buttons.

“H-heh, d-don’t worry about it.…...right. O-ok, are you ready?”

Steeling yourself, you nod. Your stomach twists and turns with nervousness; now that you knew it wouldn’t hurt, it helped a _little_ , but you were still terrified of what Alphys would think over how unusual your soul seemed to be…..and of course, if there were any immediate results. You weren’t quite sure what was worse; potentially waiting for them, or knowing immediately.

Alphys approached, and upon seeing your obvious nervousness, she reached out and patted your arm, a warm expression on her face; you feel yourself smiling back without effort – her expression was _that_ pleasant and friendly. Then she slowly reached over, trying to keep her expression professional, though it still carried that reassuring air. Deftly, she makes the pulling motion above your chest, and your kaleidoscope soul is brought forward in all its shining, crystalline glory.

Alphys’ eyes grow wide with surprise, a soft gasp leaving her.

“I’ve…..I’ve n-never seen anything l-like….”

“I know. It’s…. _weird_ , right?”

She starts, looking up at you, then back to your soul, her expression calculative, though still carrying heavy surprise.

“N-not weird…..unusual. It’s….v-very beautiful. B-b-but, I’ll….let’s see w-what the readings s-say.”

She scurries over to the control panel, pressing a few buttons; it beeps in reply. There’s a small pause, then a nearby machine lights up, making you start slightly – it makes some decisive beeping noises, before printing off something.

Alphys presses a few more buttons, before nodding to herself, then walking back to you. She carefully places your soul back into your being, and removes the small sticky pads.

“H-how are y-you feeling?”

“I’m ok. I’m a little nervous about….what’s going to be on that paper, though.”

She grins at you, clearly tapping into her scientific side.

“I k-know that you m-must be, but….this is a-amazing! In all m-my studies, t-to see a soul so unique, and to analyse it….th-this is….”

You grin back at her, laughing slightly; of course she’d be excited, this would probably be something akin to discovering a new species to a human scientist. She falters a little, letting out a huff.

“I-it’s exciting, yes, but…..y-you should never f-feel ashamed, or a-afraid of your soul, y/n, I c-can tell you that now. That soul is….”

Her expression grows soft, her eyes losing slight focus in her thought.

“I….c-can’t explain it. It j-just….f-feels so kind.”

She smiles at you, and you allow yourself to smile back.

“Thank you, Alphys.”

“A-anytime, y/n. I c-can tell, you’re a good person….and h-hopefully….”

She twiddles her thumbs slightly, her expression nervous.

“H-hopefully….you’d like to be f-friends, too?”

“Haha, I already thought that we were, to be honest!”

She looks up in happiness and surprise.

“R-really?!”

“Yeah! Couldn’t not be friends with a fellow anime fan.”

She grasps you in a fierce hug, which you delightedly laugh at, before she suddenly draws back, looking at the machine and paper.

“O-oh! I….we sh-should check this out! I-I’m sorry for being distracted.”

“Don’t worry….”

You heave in a breath to steady yourself.

 

“It’s now or never.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really, really hate hospitals T-T 
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	20. Family Fun Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we experience far too much glitter....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You hesitantly follow Alphys as she leads you back into the living room area; Sans stands at your arrival, his expression a mixture of relief, worry, and curiosity. You let out a soft laugh as you see what he’d been doing to occupy himself – a classic Rubix Cube. He grumbles good naturedly under his breath at your amusement, but keeps his gaze trained on Alphys as she heads over to another printer, which is beeping; it was probably printing off your biological results. You sigh heavily, tapping your feet slightly with anxious energy; Sans isn’t much better, his eye-lights flickering at every movement as Alphys compares both papers, making notes on her notepad and humming gently to herself. She at last gives the pad a decisive tap with her pen, before looking up – then instantly shrinking back a little at the concentrated gazes both you and Sans have unknowingly trained on her. Adjusting her glasses, she coughs a little, takes in a small breath, and smiles at the two of you uncertainly.

“W-w-well, the g-good news is t-there’s n-nothing wrong!…..Bu-but the bad n-news is th-that I….the results….”

She frowns at the page, a slightly frustrated look upon her face.

“….i-it doesn’t make any s-sense. It’s j-just….impossible?”

She looks up again, her face searching for the words to describe it. Sans sighs, before giving you a look.

“Um, y/n, could I….look at the readings? If you want...my opinion, as well?”

Alphys looks shocked at this, and for a second you think it’s due to some sort of offense, before she answers in an almost hushed tone.

“S-Sans….I thought that y-you’d said th-that….you never wa-wanted to work with s-science again?”

Sans’ expression becomes unreadable as he just looks at her, before he trains his gaze slowly to the floor, his tone equally hushed.

“….that was then, this is now. Besides, if it would…..help….”

He huffs out another sigh, before looking up at you, his gaze questioning.

“Of course. I….I would love your help, Sans. I really appreciate it.”

His smile is soft, but it quickly turns into that natural focused curiosity you’d often seen with him as Alphys gently hands him the papers. His eye-lights quickly scan over both pages, dilating as they read the information written there. His expression soon turns from one of natural curiosity to one of confusion, before he looks back up at you, a slight frown on his face.

“….it’s not completely impossible, just…. _highly_ improbable. I mean….”

He huffs out, before gesturing to the couch.

“Let’s at least stop standing around.”

Still confused, though a little more relieved knowing whatever it was didn’t appear to be life threatening, you follow Sans and Alphys to the couch, sinking into the soft plushness (inwardly you note that it’s not nearly as comfy as Sans’ and Papyrus’ couch). Sans is still frowning a little at the ratings, before he grumbles slightly to himself, and turns his full attention to you, Alphys looking on with curiosity.

“Right, so you’re aware that every soul has something called a ‘base’?”

“Yeah? It’s the colour that makes up most of your being/personality?”

Sans gives you a quick grin of approval, before continuing.

“So, at most, you can have three mixing together to make a ‘base’, with other smaller traits featuring in the background, but not showing through as colours. And with monsters, this often translates to magic types, and other things. But with your soul….”

He looks back down at the sheet to confirm, before nodding slightly, and looking back up.

“….you don’t exactly have a, uh….base.”

“….huh?”

“I mean, uh…..you kind of have…..all traits? Equally? All at once?”

Now it’s your turn to frown.

“But I thought you said -”

“Yeah, that’s the point. No one, no human monsterkind has encountered, nor any monster that has existed, has had more than three as a base at once….and that kind of thing has only been shown in boss monsters.”

“….so what does that mean for me?”

At this point Alphys pipes up; she’s recovered that excitement you saw with her back in the examination room – the excitement of discovery.

“W-we don’t k-know yet! But g-given your general state, I-I don’t think it would b-be anything bad.”

You think silently for a while, questions buzzing around inside your head, before you come to a small realisation. You then gather yourself up, and speak in a voice smaller than you’d hoped.

“So….is that linked to my HP level?”

The silence is palpable, and you inwardly cringe, before being surprised by a bony hand resting upon your own.

“….no. I don’t believe that it is.”

You look up, not quite believing it until you see Sans’ face; yes, it was a slightly sad expression, but the truth was there, clear as day. Your HP was linked to your ‘mental state’, then….which meant it was just something you would have to work on.

“….ok then. So, where do we go from here?”

Alphys again pops up excitedly, while Sans gives you a reassuring smile and allows his hand to slip from yours.

“T-there are s-still a few more t-tests we can conduct, to determine w-what makes it all so….e-even. A-and from there, we can decipher what t-that means. I m-mean….”

She looks uncertainly at Sans, who looks back with a neutral smile in place.

“...I-if you want, t-to help…?”

“I do.”

The answer is prompt and confident, washing away any uncertainty Alphys had, as she looks back towards you with her determined excitement back in place.

“Well, looks like you guys have some sort of a plan…..still, it’s….. _weird_ , right? I mean….”

 

_I’m weird, right?_

 

You find yourself laughing awkwardly, before standing up, both monsters looking at you in a confused manner. To draw attention away from yourself, you decide to quickly change to another subject, hopefully onto something a little more positive.

“Hey, uh, Sans, what do you say to a….family fun night?”

His brow bones raise in surprise and subtle questioning; you can tell that he wasn’t going to let this go, but he was going to humour you, at least.

“Family fun night, huh?”

“Y-yeah! Um…..maybe Alphys could….come too?”

She jolts in surprise in her seat, looking over to Sans, who grins easily, shrugging in a lazy fashion.

“Don’t see why not. Paps’ll love it.”

Alphys gives a nervous smile, before she more or less jerks to standing when a loud beeping starts on one of the monitors.

“O-oh, no no no!”

Both you and Sans also rise at her panic, both trying to reassure her, and trying to get an answer as to what on earth was going on.

“Alphys, calm down-”

“N-no, you don’t understand!”

“Yes, we know, so-”

“I-I-I’m so sorry in advance, y/n!”

“Wha-?”

“He’ll be here a-any minute!”

At this, Sans suddenly grabs her shoulders, pulling her to stop, his expression sending a slight chill down your spine. His voice is quiet, and much darker than his usual tone.

“…. **who?** ”

Before Alphys can answer, the entire lab feels as if it’s rumbling, the floor shaking underfoot. In your panicked mind, you have the sudden thought of an earthquake – but before that thought can fully process, there’s an earth shattering bang as the wall explodes in a shower of plaster and debris, making you shriek and duck your head; but nothing can prepare you for what follows in the quite aftermath.

“Gooooood evening, beauties and gentle beauties!”

Sans groans, letting Alphys go, covering his face with his hands, and part of you can understand why, but your brain isn’t working too well due to possible shock; for standing (well, technically rolling) there is none other than Mettaton.

“Alphys, what is _he_ doing here?”

Before Alphys can even start to stutter an answer, Mettaton swoops in, a hand raised in a coy manner; you’re assuming that if he had a face, it would be mirroring this action.

“Well, once I heard my darling Alphys was going to be having the lovely y/n around, I simply had to come and say hello!”

Sans’ face is a picture; a mixture of frustration, anger, and dumbfounded confusion. Alphys again tries to speak up, but is, once again, cut off by Mettaton as he swoops closer to you, placing his hands upon your shoulders.

“Well now! And how lovely she is! _On chante, mon cheri_.”

Grabbing one of your hands, he raises it to his screen, in what you would assume to be a pseudo kiss. You stammer, not quite sure how to react, as you’d never really been flirted with by a walking calculator before, which Mettaton seems to completely misinterpret, squealing (well, the equivalent of squealing with an electrical drama queen voice) in delight, clasping both hands in front of him.

“Oh my! Could you quite possibly be…..a fan?”

“I uh….”

Not wanting to offend him, you stick to the truth, but a slightly kinder one than describing the torture you’d been put through in your few times of watching him.

“I…..watch you every night?”

He gasps in joy at this, wheeling quickly away to Alphys, while you inwardly breathe a sigh of relief.

“Alphys! Why didn’t you tell me she was a fan! Oh my god, I should have been introduced far sooner than this.”

Alphys looks a little more nervous than usual, but her earlier panic had faded with the apparent lack of danger. She also appeared to be holding in laughter; obviously this was his usual personality – and true, it did make him the perfect diva.

“I-I’m sorry Mettaton, b-but…..what are you d-doing here?”

“I already answered that question, darling, keep up! I came to -”

“She means what are you doing, bursting in here, and giving y/n a fright with your…..entrance.”

You squeak slightly at the sudden hand on your shoulder and the growl in your ear; Sans does not appear to be best pleased with the sudden introduction. Mettaton ‘humphs’ slightly, crossing his arms.

“Well, I certainly did _not_ mean any harm. I just got….yes, perhaps a little overexcited.”

“….a little, huh?”

“Yes! But I’ve been watching her on the cameras for so long, I couldn’t wait any longer!”

Sans groans once again.

“Oh, of course you have. Look, _buddy_ , just -”

Mettaton suddenly plants his hands on where his hips would be, if they existed, his screen lighting up fiercely.

“I know. I’m not stupid – I would never tell anyone about dear y/n, she’s an absolute sweetheart. I just...”

He sighed, his screen dropping in colour tone, his hands falling from his ‘hips’ in a lonely manner.

“….I just wanted to know her.”

Humming decidedly to yourself, you straighten, and manage a smile for the TV star.

“Thank you – it’s nice of you to come to meet me. I would introduce myself, but, heh, since you already know me….”

His screen lights up once again, confidence renewed, it seemed.

“Why, but of course, darling! I can tell, this is the start of a beautiful friendship! Now, what was that I heard about a family fun night?”

“...M-Mettaton?”

“Yes, Alphys dear?”

“...how long w-were you stood b-behind that wall?”

“…..a while.”

Sans grumbles once again, still holding your shoulder in a protective way, then sighs in exasperation.

“Yup, family fun night. Why d’you ask, huh?”

You look at him in surprise; you’d never seen him so rattled, or grumpy, for that matter. Perhaps it was the stress of Mettaton’s sudden arrival?

“...I was….”

“Uh-huh?”

Mettaton seems taken aback, suddenly hesitant.

“….could I, perhaps….come along with Alphys?”

Sans thinks on it for a moment, before sighing once again.

“Yah, sure. See you at 7, Alphys. _Mettaton_.”

Suddenly, you feel the familiar sensation of being pulled into the Void briefly, before you find yourself shuddering in the cold snow. Yelping at the temperature, you quickly pull your coat out of your phone, sighing as you snuggle in, before glaring over at Sans – then drawing up short, as he still appears to not quite be himself.

“Uh….Sans? Are you ok?”

He huffs and growls slightly, his hand covering his face; even though you already knew about monsters being able to make such a sound, it still alarmed you, just a little bit – it was a natural human instinct to freeze up at such a sound, after all. You jump slightly as he suddenly looks up at you, which is then followed by a small frown as he can’t help but smile slightly at your jumpy nature, even if his expression is equivalent to a storm cloud.

“Eh, sorry, y/n, he just stirred me up a little.”

“Heh, more like he stirred you up a…. _Mettaton.”_

Sans bursts into shocked laughter, his angry expression now completely broken; you laugh along, relived. He eventually pulls a remorseful expression, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Yeah, I…..I don’t know. I guess it was just a mix of him bursting in while we were talking about something serious, and then….urgh.”

“Have you ever met him before?”

“A few times, but don’t tell that to Pap, heh, he’d flip. But at least he gets to meet his idol tonight, I suppose.”

You’re now walking back to the house side by side, Sans’ expression resting into his natural state; something you far prefer, as the thought of him being upset really did disturb you.

“He’s going to be so excited. Wait, should we even tell him, or let him be surprised?”

Sans thinks on this, humming slightly to himself, before chuckling.

“I think we’ll leave it as a surprise; his expression will be amazing.”

You laugh at the thought as you approach the front door and enter, shaking the snow off your boots and hanging up your coat.

“So we should leave making dinner up to….?”

“Oh him, definitely. Though I’m not exactly sure if Mettaton can even eat spaghetti….”

You peel your boots off, and settle happily into the sofa, with Sans doing the same. It’s at this point that you realise Sans has actually remembered to put on shoes, instead of absent-mindedly venturing out in his pink slippers. You look down in fascination, before feeling slightly disappointed that he’s wearing pretty ordinary converses. He laughs, pointing a foot with elegance so you can get a better look, which you poke his side at, trying to hide your laughter behind a mock frown.

He goes to hand you your book, but you stop him, placing your hand on his arm; he starts slightly at the touch, which you softly apologise at. After a beat, he smiles at you, his eye-lights questioning.

“I just….what do you _honestly_ think, about the whole soul thing?”

He sighs gently, turning fully to face you, while you wring your hands slightly.

“Well, it’s a little early to tell, but it’s intriguing, to say the least. I mean, your soul is made up of so many traits, some that we’ve never seen before – and they’re all equal. You have no LV, no EXP….I mean, I do have _some_ ideas, but-”

He draws up short upon noticing you wringing your hands a little more – Sans makes a disgruntled noise, placing his hands upon yours, effectively stopping any movement.

“Urgh, I knew you were feeling like this….look. You’re not weird, or anything, ok? If anything, all these things….it makes your soul something amazing, something unique. So don’t….”

He blushes under the stare you’ve placed upon him, as you listen intently to his words with surprise.

“...try not to feel bad about it, ok? I would never….I would never think those kind of things about you, no matter the results…..and I don’t think that anyone else would, either. Hell, you could probably grow a tail and I’d be fine with it.”

You laugh openly at this; Sans smiles in a relieved way, seemingly happy that he’d effectively broken your negative mood. He decisively plops your book into your lap with a wink, which you grin happily at, opening the aged pages gently at your last spot. You expect Sans to pick up his book on quantum physics, and feel slightly surprised that he instead picks up Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist – he obviously had a fondness for the classics, too.

You both read in comfortable silence – but only for around two hours, verses the four you’d had access to before Papyrus bursts in; and once again, you find that your book has ‘magically’ found it’s way back to the book pile. Papyrus, however, seems to be fully focused on you; or rather, fully focused on feeling concern for you.

“Greetings sister! How did your time at the laboratory go?”

“It was….interesting, Papyrus. I think I’ll have to go there a few more times, to have the answers that I want.”

Papyrus looks contemplative at this, but once again seems to give you the utmost privacy with your issues; he simply pats your head softly with a gloved hand, and gives you an award winning smile.

“Do not fret, sister! I’m sure that you will find what you want to find – I have faith in you!”

You laugh softly, returning his smile; he never seemed to fail to cheer you up.

“Thanks Papyrus – I hope that I will, too.”

“Hey, Pap – how does a ‘family fun night’ with Alphys and another friend sound?”

Papyrus’ attention instantly shifts to Sans, his mouth hanging open in joy; you can swear that, for a brief second, you can see stars in his eyes. With a sudden shriek, he leaps into the kitchen, yelling about desperate spaghetti preparation and for you to choose a game, as he ‘would never trust a lazy-bones with such a momentous task!’ Sans takes this all in his stride, giving you a quick shrug and gesturing over to the TV stand, which seemed to be chock a block full of assorted DVDs, VHS and board games. Digging through the collection, you select a few; a deck of cards (which would obviously have endless possibilities), connect four (as you had a sneaking suspicion the puzzle aspect would appeal to Papyrus), and battleship (as it was simply a classic). Sans gives you a surreptitious thumbs up as you lay your selection out on the carpet, while Papyrus can still be heard shrieking in excitement in the kitchen.

You settle yourself back into the couch with a slight contented huff; for a second, it seems as if Sans is content to rest next to you, before he lets out a sudden gasp, making you jump.

“Wha-?”

“Oh crap, sorry, I uh…..gotta go, forgot something!”

He suddenly blips out of existence, leaving you feeling a mixture of bemusement and confusion; you shake you head, and reach for your abandoned book, settling yourself deeper into the couch with a comfortable noise. Allowing yourself to be swallowed up by the story, you try your best to block out the desperate cooking shrieks and pans banging; which is probably why you don’t notice when there’s a gentle knock at the door a few hours later. But by some small miracle, Papyrus does; he streaks to the door, cheerfully calling out a greeting before he’s even opened it – you suddenly see Sans appear on the upstairs landing, his face almost splitting with the force of his smile. Even if he seemed to hold more than a little animosity towards Mettaton, the happiness of his brother far outweighed it.

There’s a silence as Papyrus opens up; you watch his expression almost as eagerly as Sans, but simply feel mute surprise as his face reveals nothing. He’s wearing his usual smile, as he greets Alphys.

“….and who is your friend?”

Your jaw drops, and you’re fairly sure Sans’ does too – how could he not recognise his idol? But your open mouthed shock soon turns to open mouthed confusion as Alphys comes inside, followed closely by a robot, which should be non other than Mettaton.

But not quite the Mettaton you’d come to know.

This robot is humanoid in shape, and flamboyant to a t. His face is the picture of anime handsomeness, model perfect – pale ‘skin’ (which still reveals slight metal segments above and below his left eye), perfectly accented with glossy black hair which flops over his right eye fashionably. His torso is a bright and exuberant pink, which at the centre seems to hold some kind of energy core (scandalously shaped like a soul, oh my). His segmented arms are topped with black shoulder guards – but the most noticeable thing about him had to be the fact he had legs for days; clad in tight black leather trousers and pink calf-high heeled boots.

You can tell that Mettaton is feeling slightly nervous about this big reveal; but he covers it up well with a dramatic pose – something inside you irks at the explosion of glitter on the carpet.

“Well, hello there, darling! As I’ve heard how many wonderful fans I have in this household, I’ve decided that tonight would be perfect to preview my new body – yes, it’s true, it is I, your sole television star Mettaton!”

Now you finally see the expression you’d been waiting for upon Papyrus’ face – if he could explode like the glitter Mettaton had just produced, you’re pretty sure that he would. In fact, he almost looks broken with happiness for a while, which Mettaton more than takes in his stride. Papyrus then gasps back into reality, stammering his words like a flustered school girl.

“M-M-Mettaton?!”

“In the metallic flesh, darling. And who might you be?”

“M-m-me?”

Mettaton suddenly sidles on up to Papyrus, eyebrows (odd to think that he suddenly had a face, and yet was perfectly pulling the expressions you’d imagined for him) raising slightly.

“Yes, sweetheart. Do you see any other tall, handsome skeleton monsters around?”

Papyrus’ face lights up like a street-lamp, and he managed to babble out his name. Mettaton simply gives an enigmatic smile, before bringing Papyrus’ hand up to his lips, producing the same ‘on chante’ line that he’d used with you. You would have laughed, if you weren’t so worried that Papyrus may or may not faint from being too starstruck; but luckily, Sans seems more than eager to save the day.

“Hey Pap, isn’t that your spaghetti burning?”

It of course, was not, but that did not stop Papyrus immediately leaping into panic mode and rushing into the kitchen, leaving a surprised Mettaton in his wake. Alphys takes this opportunity to move past him, murmuring a hello to both you and Sans, before taking a seat next to you on the couch. Sans, lazy as ever, blips into the seat next to you, sighing at the satisfactory plushness. Mettaton seems more than a little put out at the lack of drama at his new appearance, sitting himself at one of the dining chairs with a dejected sigh. Feeling slightly sad for him, you speak up, even though you know it was probably not the greatest idea to feed his diva ego.

“Mettaton, I think your new look is really cool! Is it more, uh, comfortable than your old one?”

He instantly perks up, fluffing his hair happily as you feel Sans groan slightly next to you.

“Thank you, y/n, you’re such a sweetheart. I love it; Alphys did a fantastic job.”

“T-thank you, Mettaton -”

“And my god, these legs! I suit these far better than wheels.”

He proceeds to impressively hold out one of said legs at an almost vertical angle with ease; you struggle to hold in a laugh, muffling it behind a cough, which at least seems to cheer Sans up a little. It’s at that point that Papyrus chooses to stick his head out of the kitchen to announce that dinner was ready – or rather, he would have, if he hadn’t locked eyes with Mettaton’s incredible flexibility. He lets out an almost pained squeak, retreating his head, before continuing his announcement from within the safe space of the kitchen.

Mettaton, however, looks genuinely happy at the announcement, claiming that he’d been wanting to test out his taste inputs – whatever that meant. And so, you all sat down at the table, consuming the spaghetti with seemingly different moods. Papyrus was wolfing down the spaghetti in an effort to not stare at Mettaton (though every so often he’d hazard a nervous glance). Alphys was enjoying her pasta at a normal length, but taking far more joy at watching the other occupants of the table; you had to wonder if she’d be bringing out the popcorn after dinner. Mettaton was moving slowly through his meal, seeming to contemplate every bite; but it at least did appear that he was enjoying it – or at least, he said so, much to Papyrus’ happiness. Sans seemed to be caught; he was enjoying his pasta as he normally did, but occasionally kept glancing worriedly up the stairs, then glaring at the mayhem Mettaton was causing. You observed all of this, in a mixture of bemusement and worry, which thoroughly distracted you from the deliciousness of your spaghetti meal.

The actual gaming was also quite the….interesting experience. Connect four was a battle of wits within every matching (which was at first decided by rock paper scissors) – you verses Alphys, and Sans verses Mettaton, with the winners facing each other, then the winner of that match facing Papyrus as he was ‘the puzzle master’. Alphys beat you by a landslide, which you more than expected, but congratulated her anyway, which she blushed at, thanking you profusely. The match between Mettaton and Sans was close (only by Sans being lazy, you’d wager), but Sans ultimately won when Mettaton became a little too unnerved by the skeleton’s slightly disturbing smile. Sans then decided to stop being lazy for his match with Alphys, quickly winning, but then quickly fell back into his lazy pattern when facing Papyrus; obviously allowing his brother to win, which none of you minded in the least, as Papyrus was more than happy – and a happy Papyrus was a very good thing.

The next game is battleship, which you decide to play in teams; well, teams meaning you and Sans, Alphys by herself, and Papyrus and Mettaton teaming up, as Mettaton claimed that he wished to ‘get to know his number one fan better’. Papyrus seemed to get over his bashful spell a little at this point, his confidence suddenly matching Mettaton’s – Mettaton’s face truly was a picture at that point, seeming to be caught between surprise and some other emotion; something along the lines of fondness, you’d wager. Sans is completely distracted during your match with Alphys, but you manage to just carry the game – winning with only one of your boats left on the board. Alphys then steps back from the matches for the moment, claiming she’s prefer to be a spectator – but you know darned well that it’s more she’d like a front seat for any drama, if her surreptitious smile in your direction suggested anything else. Sans suddenly regained some concentration, but was obviously completely torn; wishing to ‘blow Mettaton out of the water’ but also wanting to allow his brother to win. You let him lead the match, knowing that the true battle would be raging inside him, at this point – eventually he chooses the option he can live with, by allowing them to win; his brother’s happiness more important than the jab at Mettaton’s ego.

Then you finish with a game of ‘bull’ - the truest battle of all. Well, it is for Mettaton, Sans and Papyrus, anyway. All of them seem intense in different ways; Mettaton obviously able to detect some lies with some program, before Alphys called him out on it – though he was still quite good at reading body language ( _I’m a dancer, darling, and a master actor – of course I can tell that you’re lying._ ). Sans seemed to be more than masterful at reading expressions, while he himself wore a relaxed smile at all times, making him very hard to read. Papyrus, however, was simply determined to the point it was making people feel guilty about lying in front of him; a clever tactic. Again, Alphys was taking a slightly laid back approach to the whole thing as she was simply having too much fun watching the chaos and battle of wills – which is why all four are pretty surprised when you win; you’d had your own simple tactic of sneaking under the radar. Sans comes a close second, followed by Papyrus, and Alphys, leaving Mettaton last, much to his dismay – Alphys had obviously decided that a quick win for her would be a nice end to the dramatic evening.

By this point Papyrus was more or less himself, if not perhaps a little more focused on Mettaton’s presence than anyone else; and oddly, it seemed that Mettaton was much the same, which you could see was peeving Sans, who seemed to have as much of a ‘love hate’ relationship with the Underground star as he did when watching him on TV. However, you all say your goodbyes at the door, despite who feels what.

“Mettaton! It was truly fantastic to meet you, nyeh heh heh. Rest assured, I shall be watching your show tomorrow with bated breath, as always!”

Mettaton appears to actually blush at this comment, clearly not expecting such a direct and sincere compliment.

“Oh, w-well, thank you, dear. I promise that it’ll be no less fabulous than usual, if not more – never anything less for my wonderful audience.”

“Y/n, i-if you like, I c-can see you in the l-lab the day after tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that sounds good with me.”

“W-will you be there too, S-Sans?”

“Yeah, but later on. As much as I love being lazy, gotta work some in the morning.”

“O-oh, right.”

“Y/n, darling, I’ll look forward to seeing you again soon!”

“Heh, yeah, it’ll be nice to see you again too, Mettaton. Good luck with your big reveal.”

With that, you all say your goodbyes, even if Sans practically growls his at Mettaton; who oddly accepts it, giving Alphys a strange look you can’t quite interpret.

After the door is closed, Papyrus almost immediately heads up to bed; but not before sweeping both you and Sans into a hug, and murmuring various thank yous, which melts your heart immediately – you can completely understand why Sans could put up with his obvious irritation at Mettaton’s presence.

At this point, you’d expect Sans to also say his good nights, but he loiters oddly, looking both excited but awkward all of a sudden.

“Uh, Sans? You doing ok there?”

He laughs, scratching the back of his head.

“Yup. Hey, uh, y/n, would you do me a favour? Or uh, rather….”

“Yeah, sure, what’s up?”

He coughs in a nervous manner, before approaching you.

 

“Would you come upstairs with me? There’s…..something I’d like to show you.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans....you dog, you. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> I'm not sure if you lovely American readers know of the these particular board games (and card game), but I'm hoping that you do! :p  
> Still, on another note....what's going on with Reader-chan's soul? :o
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	21. PUN-ishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally find out what Sans wanted to show us....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You find yourself automatically laughing at Sans’ odd expression – he openly face palms, groaning slightly.

‘Ok, yeah, I know, poor choice of words. But honestly, it’s just…..urgh, you coming, or not?’

“Haha, yeah, sure, I’m coming.”

Still giggling, you follow him up the staircase; he grumbles in a good natured fashion, clearly seeing the humour in the situation, despite feeling all but slightly mortified. However, your spell of the giggles quickly comes to an end when you find that he has led you to the spare bedroom door; you remembered that he’d mentioned a few mornings ago that he and Papyrus had started to get it ready for you to reside in, but you never thought that they’d have it ready so quickly.

“Oh, um….is this what I think it is?”

Sans says nothing, simply giving you a cheeky grin and opening the door. You step in confused, as the room is pitch black – Sans laughs at your expression, quickly shutting the door behind him; you’re both left in complete darkness. Sans’ laughter quickly takes on an evil tone, obviously looking to unnerve you; you simply roll your eyes.

“Hey, keep rolling your eyes that hard and you’ll be able to see your brain.”

“Ok, _one_ , that’s not how it works, and _two_ – how can you see in here?! I don’t think I’d even be able to see my hand in front of my face!”

“Heh, really? Well, I guess monsters tend to have slightly better eyesight, in that respect. So yeah, it’s dark in here, but I can still kinda see you.”

You stick your tongue out at him to test this, and squeak in surprise as you feel him poke your cheek in return. Sans finds this far more amusing than you did, taking great joy in poking your other cheek and getting the same result. You lunge in what you assumed was his direction, coming up short, which only made him laugh harder – you puff out your cheeks in mock annoyance. You cross your arms, patiently waiting for his laughter to subside.

“So, are we gonna just keep standing in the darkness, or am I actually going to be able to see the content of this room?”

“Heh, yeah, sorry – just wanted a bit of, you know, drama.”

“I would have thought you’d had enough of that with Mettaton being here tonight.”

Sans gives a genuine grumble at this.

“Urgh, stupid walking calculator. At least Paps liked seeing him...”

He growls a little more; which allows you to finally find his location to pat him deftly.

“We all had fun, you know? Even if it was competitive, and a little silly. Besides, I think that, behind that layer of glitter, Mettaton’s quite the unsure guy.”

Sans still grumbles slightly at this, but it does seem to hold the air of agreement; you couldn’t exactly tell, as you still couldn’t see a damn thing.

“Now, seriously, can we stop standing around in the dark? I mean, as much as I _love_ channelling my inner Void -”

The light is turned on with a flourish, making you screech slightly and cover your eyes; which is when you realise that you’re a lot closer to Sans than you originally thought, as you can almost feel the puffs of air he produces as he chuckles at your exaggerated reactions.

Sighing to yourself, you slowly uncover your eyes to allow them to adjust, before warily turning around, and gasping at the sight.

The room was perfect, comfortable and oddly serene. The walls were a clean cream colour, with one small wall piece; it seemed to be an empty frame, which was a little odd, but you still appreciated the sentiment. The bed was amazing – with more than enough room to practice your starfish impression; and it looked incredibly plush, as if it would swallow you in complete comfort, which you wouldn’t exactly object to. The room was made complete with a wardrobe, chest of drawers, and a writing desk; all the furniture was old and charming, worn in just the way you preferred.

“Oh Sans…..this is so lovely. Seriously…..oh man, I wish Papyrus was still up, I need to thank him!”

Sans chuckled, a slight blush across his cheekbones.

“Aw, it’s not all that much….all of this stuff came from the dump….I mean, yeah, we repurposed them, but, uh, kinda used to it, and -”

You cut him off from his rambling by giving him a hug, laughing at how awkward he was being.

“Honestly, it’s great. Thank you.”

You pull away from the hug, still laughing, and Sans joins you, even if he’s still blushing at the compliments a little.

“I’m glad that you like it. Anyways, feel free to unpack and stuff, as it’s your space; I’ll see you tomorrow, ‘kay?”

“Yeah….and thank you, again. Sleep well.”

“G’night.”

He then oddly blips out of existence, even though his room was next door. You knock on the wall.

“That was lazy!”

You hear slightly muffled laughter from the other side, signifying that he’d heard you and did not care in the least.

Giving yourself the order of unpacking tomorrow, you practically launch yourself into the squishy bed, sighing happily as it embraced you. As lovely as the couch was, it would never compare to a really nice bed.

 

~

 

Sleep had taken you into it’s embrace quickly, gracing you once again with dreamless bliss; something that you hardly ever got the joy of experiencing, and you accepted it with relish.

You awake with a satisfied stretch, you back snapping and popping with the sudden movement – the bed was incredibly comfortable, quite possibly the best you’d ever had, and you’d never thought that any bed could beat the one you’d had at Toriel’s.

Exiting your room, you notice that it’s still quite early; from what you could tell, even Papyrus hadn’t yet surfaced, if the slight snoring from his room was anything to go by. Smiling to yourself, you wander into the kitchen, plotting what you could make for your new room-mates for breakfast. You finally decide to make some muffins – _they counted as breakfast, right?_ Shrugging to yourself, you decide to go through with it; if they didn’t want them, that would be ok. They would probably make a good snack, in any case.

Digging out a muffin tin, you place in some muffin cases, starting to sing softly under your breath as you went; it almost an automatic action whenever you cooked. This morning, the song was ‘Down-town’ by Petula Clark – as you bounced around happily to the cheerful beat, you chopped up some pecans, before grabbing a few eggs and showing them what for. You add said eggs to milk, sunflower oil and liquid magic, wrinkling your nose slightly at the disgusting mix; but you knew that it would turn into something fluffy and delicious, so it was bearable. You then sift some self-raising flour into a bowl, add in sugar and baking powder, then chuck in your disgusting egg mixture and pecans, stirring until it became a lumpy mess – perfect. You plonk the mixture into the selected cases, then slide them into the oven, still humming your song as you brought over your chair to put things into the sink; or, you would have, if an extremely tall skeleton hadn’t walked into the kitchen at that precise moment.

“Sister, good morning! What is it that you’ve been doing?”

He leant curiously, looking into the oven through the little viewing window, before looking at you in confusion.

“….tiny cakes?”

You bust out into giggles, unable to contain it.

“Heh, no, Paps….they’re muffins!”

“Muffins?”

“Kind of like tiny cakes, but they can be eaten for breakfast! Or, as a snack.”

“A multi use breakfast?! How innovative! A fine choice indeed.”

You glow with happiness that your choice had been a good one, before reaching for your chair, once again. Papyrus actually laughs at your antics, picking up the dirty dishes for you and placing them into the sink.

“As much as I appreciate the effort you’re going to to keep the kitchen clean, sister, climbing upon furniture can be dangerous! Please leave things like that to me or my brother – after all, you’ve already cooked, so now it’s a group effort!”

He ‘nyeh heh hehs’, hands upon hips; you couldn’t argue with him, chuckling to yourself and raising your hands in defeat as he turns and starts to wash up.

“Are you going to be training again today?”

“Not today, sister! Well, it is something akin to training; Undyne gives me a cooking lesson once a week, and today is that day!”

“Oh wow, she must be a really good teacher! I mean, because your spaghetti is the literal _best_...”

“Nyeh heh, thank you, sister. She is a masterful chef, though even she must agree that my spaghetti tops hers!”

You grin evilly; you knew it was probably too early for this, but you did not care.

“Well, I’m so glad that the lessons were not _al forno-thing_.”

Papyrus’ head whips around to look at you, washing temporarily forgotten as he groans slightly.

“Sister, no…”

“I know, I know….doing this kind of thing this early…..it’s _fusilli_ reasons.”

“ _Sister_ …”

“But honestly, I’m trying to _divella-p_ some more pun confidence.”

Papyrus covers his face, and you swear you can hear him laughing; his shoulders were shaking, at least.

“I can understand it if you’re upset. I mean, I’m down here cooking, making puns….really interrupting your daily _rotini_.”

“OH MY GOD.”

Papyrus covers his mouth straight after shouting, but you knew that was mainly to smother his laughter. You lean in a little closer, a smug smile upon your lips.

“Papyrus….could you possibly….be finding my jokes amusing?”

“No, of course not, they’re terrible!”

“ _Wheat_ a second….does that mean you think they’re _soba-d_?”

Papyrus finally openly laughs at this, then freezes when a sudden, familiar deep voice appears.

“My bro, liking puns? Now this is just _farfelle-teched.”_

“Sans! Brother, no!”

“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it, either – do you think that I deserve a _trofie_?”

“Oh my god, I think I’m in hell.”

“No, bro, no – please don’t _pasta_ way.”

At this point, you and Sans are crying with laughter; Papyrus exits in the kitchen with a dramatic arm flip, covering up his own laughter masterfully with a high-pitched shriek.

Sans wipes away his happy tears, still laughing gently; nothing more than a low rumble within his chest.

“Oh, now _that_ is a good way to wake up.”

“To be honest, I’m surprised you’re awake this early yourself.”

“Heard Pap yell out, and just had to come see; only puns could torture him to that point.”

Sans also peers curiously into the oven before giving an approving nod.

“Muffins. Nice.”

“Heh, glad you think so, but you’ve not tried them yet. At least you knew what they were….Papyrus thought that they were tiny cakes.”

Sans snorts at this.

“Oh man, and I thought that the whole ‘egg pie’ thing was class. We need to start making more stuff to see what he’ll say.”

“Agreed.”

You and Sans plot your evil recipes for a while (lasagne, obviously, but soufflé was also discussed, though neither of you had ever made it before), and before long, the ‘tiny cakes’ were finished, filling the kitchen with their homely sweetness as you took the tray out of the oven. Sans takes an exaggerated breath in, before breathing out with a satisfied, happy sound.

“Smells amazing.”

“It still amazes me that you can smell without a technical nose.”

“How rude! My skeleton nose is beautiful, and perfectly functional, thank you.”

You giggle at his mock offense, carefully swatting away his reaching hands as you move the muffins onto the cooling rack.

“At least let them cool to something edible.”

“They look perfectly edible to me.”

“Ok, wrong choice of words – let them cool to point that isn’t going to melt your face off.”

Papyrus decides to re-enter the kitchen at this point (having recovered from the pun attack), also breathing in the delectable scents.

“Sister, these look wonderful! Sans, you leave them alone! You know what happened with that pizza you ate.”

You looked questionably at Sans who shrugged, his smile slightly strained with embarrassment, before Papyrus answered your silent question with a sigh.

“He burnt his tongue, and couldn’t talk without wincing for two days.”

Sans blushed slightly with a disgruntled expression, while you giggled.

“Well, I can admit to doing the same more than once, sadly.”

“But sister! Surely you’d know better than to eat something of that temperature!”

“I’d like to think so, too, but the call of pizza is far too strong.”

“Bro, she’s right; but you know, being burnt by delicious cheese is worth it -”

“SANS.”

“- ‘cause it always gets _feta.”_

With a screech, Papyrus picks Sans up and all but throws him into the living room; you can hear him laughing as he went. Chuckling at their antics, you gently place three of the cooled muffins on a plate (though they were still pleasantly toasty), before following them in. Holding the plate aloft, you offer both brothers their muffins, which they accept gladly. Papyrus eats his politely, with obvious enjoyment; Sans expectedly starts to get crumbs everywhere, hence the plate you’d brought, which you hand to him with a chuckle.

“These, are, again, really nice y/n.”

“Who knew tiny cakes would be such a wholesome breakfast?”

“Muffins, Papyrus.”

“Oh yes. Why ‘muffins’, though? They look like tiny cakes.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that one….muffin history isn’t exactly my strong point.”

Papyrus humphs slightly, pondering the conundrum. Giving up with a sigh, he stands, hands already dramatically planted upon his hips.

“Well, I am off for my cooking lesson with Undyne!”

“Hope that you have a nice time!”

“I will, thank you sister! Sans, don’t fall asleep at your station.”

“I won’t – I’ll have y/n to talk to.”

“Oh, very true! I’m glad that she is affecting your lazy nature so positively.”

“Ah, wait a second, Papyrus!”

He looks at you questioningly, brow bones raised, with a slight smile upon his face.

“Yes, sister?”

“I just….wanted to say…..thank you so, _so_ much for the room, it’s wonderful.”

“You’re very welcome – though it’s obviously not quite as cool as my room!”

Papyrus gives a bright smile, waving and ‘nyeh heh hehing’ as he exited the front door, once again closing it softly; you had to wonder why entrances had to be much louder than exits. You give a lazy stretch, your shoulders popping; you notice Sans visibly wince.

“You ok?”

He laughs a little awkwardly, giving you a side long glance.

“Yeeeeah, just, uh, promise me you won’t _ever_ do that in front of Paps.”

“….do what?”

Sans sighed slightly, covering his face, before you twigged.

“Oh my god. _Bones cracking_. Oh, I’m so sorry, I never even thought of that – is it really rude?”

Sans laughs at your flustered expression, waving his hand dismissively.

“Oh geez, I’ve been snapping all over the place in front of you! I’m so sorry!”

“Heh, y/n, it’s fine, chill out. It’s not exactly a rude thing, per say, just, eh…..frowned upon in public? At least if you’re a skeleton monster.”

“I’m so sorry. I’ll try not to from now on, I promise.”

“Hey, it’s ok, you didn’t know.”

He chuckles again at your expense – you stand in a rush, stammering about getting ready and fleeing; Sans’ now open laughter echoing in your wake.

 

~

 

You’re snuggled in your coat, sat with Sans at the station – you’d grabbed a few muffins earlier and placed them in a bag for snacking purposes, which Sans was taking full advantage of, eating his third.

“You’re going to turn into a muffin, if you’re not careful.”

“Why would I turn into a muffin….?”

“You’ve never heard of the expression, ‘you are what you eat’?”

“Then surely I’d be ketchup.”

“….and Papyrus would be spaghetti.”

You shuffle slightly in your seat; it seemed to be especially cold today – it was making your teeth chatter, which Sans seemed to find fascinating.

“Why does your body do that?”

“Scientific answer or simplified?”

“Scientific, obviously.”

“Well, basically it’s due to a little something called the Second Law of Thermodynamics -”

“Where heat flows from a warm object to a cold object?”

“Exactly. So, same as you, it’s because I’m cold; I mean, you shiver, right?”

“Yeah….I mean, just ‘cause I’m a skeleton, doesn’t mean I can’t get cold.”

“Even if the cold goes straight through you.”

“Haha, yup, even then.”

‘Basically my teeth chattering is just an extension for that; my body attempting to generate heat by increasing chemical reactions necessary for muscle activity.’

Sans hums at the knowledge, seeming to store it away for later, as he seemed to do with anything scientific.

“Hey, we’re almost done here for the day; wanna go to Grillby’s?”

“What, and torture poor Papyrus again?”

Sans makes a dismissive gesture, laughing.

“Naw, I won’t be that mean – I’ll leave him a note saying where we are, ‘kay?”

Rubbing your arms, teeth still chattering, you have to give in; the tempting warmth of Grillby’s was far too tempting an option. Sans grins at this, blipping out of existence; you assume so he can leave a note for Papyrus. You breath into your hands, rubbing them together furiously, before repeating the process – nothing seemed to be working; you felt like a human icicle. Sans thankfully soon popped back into being next to you, and with a quick grin, you turn away from him deliberately; you hear him make a confused noise.

“I’m giving you the _cold_ shoulder. I mean, I didn’t know _weather_ you’d come back; I was about to cry for _Alp_.”

You simply hear silence from behind you – feeling a little concerned, you turn back to him, only to more or less see literal stars in his sockets. He recovers quickly, though, attempting to give you a casual look (even though he can’t quite seem to shake off his massive smile).

“Eh, you _snow_ the drill – I’m just a little _flakey_ when it comes to timings.”

“How _Rudolf_ you. _White_ you do that?”

He openly laughs at this, patting your shoulder for support, it seemed.

“Oh my god, y/n, honestly, your puns are beautiful sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Well now. I’d say my puns are beautiful all the time – of the highest grade of terrible, I’d like to think. But you know what they say, with great _powder_ comes great responsibility, and I plan to misuse my punning prowess to the greatest extent.”

Sans giggles uncontrollably, leaning his head on the station desk, before looking up at you weakly as you poked his cheek.

“Did I break you?”

“Maybe a lil’ bit. Ready to go?”

“Hell yes. I’m about to turn into a human popsicle, here.”

“ _Icy_ that.”

He embraces you, still laughing, and you mock groan at the weak pun as you zip through the Void and end up outside the warm exterior of Grillby’s – your body gives a heavy shudder, as if sensing the warmth. Sans casts you a slightly concerned look, opening the door and ushering you inside.

You let out a groan of happiness as the warmth flows over you; you body lets out another heavy shudder, getting used to the temperature change. Sans gives you another sidelong glance, and you throw a reassuring one back at him in return. Seemingly satisfied with this, Sans starts to waltz his way towards the bar…

 

...up towards two empty bar stools.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, yup, it was your new room....what, did you think it would be something else? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) *whispers* Sloooow burrn....  
> Papyrus is, once again, a sweet ray of sunshine (tiny cakes for the win)....and yes, muffins can be breakfast, don't judge me....  
> （￣へ￣）
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	22. Fires Age Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we have a chat with Grillby....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You quickly follow after Sans, but you’re stopped in your tracks by two very large, very fluffy objects; you all land in a solid heap upon the floor.

Gasping in reflex, you attempt to sit up, only to have Greater Dog, and the white Samoyed you’d seen in your last visit to Grillby’s, push you back to the floor, tails wagging in excitement.

“Oh my-! Um, hello there.”

Both dogs yip in further excitement and greeting, staring at you with bright, expectant eyes. You giggle softly, before cautiously reaching out and petting the two of them; both tails start to wag to a greater extent, clearly showing approval. You look over to where Sans has taken a seat; and frown slightly as you see that he’s currently having a little trouble even staying on the stool he’s sat upon, he’s laughing so much. The other patrons are a mixture of the same amusement, and happy warmth as they also seem to approve of your actions.

You pointedly ignore Sans (but blush slightly at the other patron’s attentions), and gently run your fingers through the canine’s fluff, smiling contentedly to yourself. You then look up in slight surprise when you notice that the other dog monsters are coming over.

They are much the same as when you last saw them, aside from the fact they were all now smiling at you as if you’d been friends for years; even Doggo was less jumpy, as you were constantly moving your hands in order to keep the armoured dogs in your lap satisfied. Dogaressa batted her beautiful eyelashes at you, a smile upon her face.

“Why, hello there, y/n. I’m sorry if our cousins surprised you, but it seems they couldn’t quite wait to receive your wonderful pets.”

“Heh, it’s quite alright – I like giving pets! It’s nice to see you all again.”

Dogamy coughed a little, his moustache twitching, and Dogaressa looks over, before nodding a little solemnly.

“Y/n, we feel as if….”

“….we should apologise.”

“Huh? Whatever for?”

“When we first met….”

“….we honestly thought that you were a _puppy!_ ….”

“….we hope you’re not offended.”

Some part of you laughed that they were apologising for the puppy assumption and not the whole ‘swinging axes at your face’ thing, but considering they were ordered to capture humans, you could hardly blame them for such things….even if it had terrified you at the time. No, you knew that they had no bad intentions towards you.

“Of course I’m not! I mean, if anything, it’s a compliment...”

They both smile at this, their tails wagging away. Doggo smirks at you approvingly; it seemed he was the ‘silent’ type, more content to hang back and relax – probably had something to do with the dog treats he smoked.

You’re about to ask something else, when you gasp in shock; the Samoyed’s neck had started to extend at an alarming rate – he was starting to resemble a dog giraffe hybrid.

“Oh my god-”

“Ah, please, do not worry….”

“….that’s normal for him. It happens when he gets overexcited.”

The dog whined in agreement from your lap, seeming to be sad you’d stopped your petting in your shock.

“Still….it’s probably better...”

“...to stop petting him.”

The dog let out an angry yap at this, turning to his cousins with an indignant expression. Doggo sighed at this, giving him a sterner look.

“C’mon, Lesser Dog, you know it’s for the best.”

Lesser Dog seemed to let out a heavy sigh, but gave you a final wag before leaving your lap. Greater Dog, however, didn’t quite get the message; he instead takes full advantage of your lap being vacant to roll around more, effectively knocking the air out of you.

“Oh my, Greater Dog, I believe that….”

“….humans need to breathe a little more than that.”

Greater Dog whined, giving your face a mournful lick, before also vacating your lap, allowing you to finally stand (and breathe). You get to your feet with a gentle groan, dusting yourself off, and smiling at them all.

“It’s really nice to see you all again.”

“Yes, it’s nice to see you…..”

“….again, y/n.”

“We’re over in the corner playing poker, kid. Feel free to come over if you want to join.”

With friendly waves (and happy yips), they start to make their way back across the room, and with a sigh, you walk your way up to the bar, where Sans seems to still be wiping away tears of laughter.

“Yes, yes, very funny.”

“Hehe, oh man, you should’ve seen your face!”

“It was quite the _ruff_ time.”

This only succeeded in making Sans laugh even more; you roll your eyes with a bemused smile as Grillby walks over, rubbing a glass clean with a wash cloth as he goes.

“Hey Grillby.”

“Good evening, y/n, and Sans.”

Sans raises a hand in greeting, having not quite recovered from his laughing fit.

“What can I get for the both of you?”

While Sans giggles through his words of ‘the usual’, you take a little more time to look over the menu, as you’d been so distracted last time; before long, you decide on tomato soup (as your body was still recovering from the biting cold outside), but frown a little when you couldn’t figure out what drink you’d had the last time you were at the establishment.

“Are you having trouble with the drinks menu again, y/n?”

You look up to see Grillby examining you with a smile, his flames casting a pleasant warmth over your face.

“Oh, well, not exactly – I was just looking for the drink that you made me last time, as you never told me the name?”

Grillby gives a chuckle, his flames sparking a little.

“I like to create a drink unique to every patron I serve; that one was yours. It was to your liking?”

“Wow, um, yes, very much so – it was delicious. What a wonderful thing to do! I had no idea.”

He chuckles again, Sans along with him.

“Wanna know what mine is?”

“….a bottle of ketchup?”

Sans outright laughs at this, shaking his head.

“You’d think it would be, but no, hehe….ah, you know what, I’ll order it, if that’s ok, Grillbz.”

“You know, you’ll have to give it a name, my dear.”

You hum in thought, before shrugging helplessly, looking at Sans for help.

“Hey, don’t look at me, I named mine ‘The Sans Special’.”

“…..you’re kidding.”

He somehow looks far too satisfied with this; Grillby shakes his head sadly.

“It’s true. I suppose I should at least be thankful that it wasn’t a pun.”

Sans groans, his head in his hands.

“I knooow. I felt terrible when I thought of that – my advice to you, y/n? Think on it. Don’t be another ‘Sans Special’.”

“Hehe. Well, I’ll order my creation anyway; it might help me think a little.”

Grillby gives a pleased crackle and smile, before turning away to what you assumed was the kitchen; upon looking a little closer, you crack up, realising that the sign above it was a ‘fire exit’. You smooth your fingers over the worn and characterful wood of the bar, admiring the dents and imperfections; and also noting that despite this, Grillby cleaned it to perfection.

Stretching (but being cautious not to stretch to the point of cracking), you turn to Sans, curious as to what on earth his drink would be, if not ketchup. You open your mouth to ask, only to be quickly cut off.

“Nope.”

“But-”

“Nuh-uh. Patience is a virtue.”

You frown at him, which he returns with a smug expression. You poke at a particularly large divot in the bar, content to tease him back with silence; if it was one thing Sans didn’t seem to enjoy, it was an awkward atmosphere. Before long, you hear him huff slightly – you chew on your lower lip to keep your expression relatively stern. This soon breaks when you squeak as he pokes your cheek; rubbing your face with a grumble you turn to him once again, just in time to see his relieved expression before it transforms back into his usual easy grin.

“Welcome back. I didn’t know that the bar was that interesting.”

“Yeah, the conversation was a little _wooden_ , but -”

Sans’ chortle is satisfying, but you’re a little distracted as you hear a loud groan by the jukebox; the giant chocolate brown hamster monster that was trying to fix it on your last visit is obviously still trying to do so, and growing more and more frustrated, it seemed. You slide off your stool and wander over; the hamster looks up as you approach, looking a little surprised.

“Um, hi, I’m y/n….was just wondering what was wrong?”

The hamster regards you for a moment more, before smiling a little, extending a paw in greeting, which you shake.

“’Sup dude, I’m Johan. Well, been tryin’ to fix to damn thing for a solid week now, ya dig?”

You nod dumbly, surprised at Johan's style of speech; but since he seemed like he was nice, it didn’t really matter.

“Yeah, so, not matter what, it just won’t start up man!”

You frown, moving around him to take a look at the back of it yourself; not that you knew a thing about fixing these kinds of things, but you still wanted to give it a shot. However, as you move, you notice a glaring, obvious flaw in the machine.

“Um….did you try fixing that wire?”

Johan looks at the wire in surprise, scratching his head.

“Y’know, lil’ miss, you might be on ta something.”

 _Lil’ miss?_ You blink in surprise at his speech, once again, but watch as he reaches into a nearby tool bag, retrieves some tape, then carefully tapes up the wire. He looks to you, and crosses his hamster paws. You follow suit, giving him a determined smile. With a breath, he presses the ‘on’ switch, and gasps as the machine sputters into life, before the bar erupts in cheers; your hands are suddenly grabbed as Johan dances with joy.

“Oh man! Lil’ miss, you’re a genius!”

“Heh, no, uh -”

He lets go of you finally, patting your shoulder, before turning back to the box, starting to pick out songs with shaky excitement.

“Oh man, _oh man_ , this is gonna be so cool….”

You smile to yourself, returning to your stool, where Sans had been watching the entire affair perched on his elbow with a grin; he high fives you as you walk close to him.

“Heh, nice. I swear, he’s been at that thing forever.”

“It was a split wire at the top; just needed to be taped together.”

Sans’ brow bones raised in surprise.

“Seriously? Aw man, now I feel terrible; Johan’s got terrible eye sight, he probably didn’t notice it….”

You pat Sans’ arm deftly, then sit up straighter in your seat as Grillby approaches with your ordered food. You breathe in the homely, slightly sweet scent of tomato soup, happily noting that Grillby had placed a slice of fresh, home made bread on the side. He bows slightly at your wordless thanks, before setting a bottle of ketchup and a burger in front of Sans, who gave Grillby a lazy wink and admired his food like a long lost lover.

“I’ll be back with your drinks in but a moment; I hope that you enjoy your meal.”

“As always, Grillbz, I will – with gusto.”

“Thank you, Grillby; this was exactly what I needed.”

Grillby bowed once again, before heading back to his fire exit; you look at Sans questioningly, gesturing to the bottles of drink on the wall behind the bar – but he just shrugs, picking up his burger with a delicious squish.

“He likes to keep the personal drinks a secret – not that it’s like anyone else can mix a drink like him, heh.”

You hum in agreement; you’d certainly never tasted anything as perfect as the drink you’d had when you’d been here last. You turn your attention to your soup – picking up the soft bread, you dunk it in, taking your first satisfying bite. You shudder happily, feeling the last of the cold from outside leave your body, as the delicious balance of tomato, basil, and the tiniest amount of cream fill your senses. You weren’t quite sure how Grillby seemed to make even the simplest of foods fantastic, but he did.

You’ve just about finished up your soup (Sans had more or less inhaled his food the second it touched his teeth) when Grillby returns, sliding your deeply golden drink towards you. However, you were more surprised by ‘The Sans Special’ - the drink was a vibrant cacophony of reds, blues, and yellows; all mixed, but somehow separate, like an artist’s palate. Despite the crazy colours, the scents it gave off were ones akin of hot doughnuts, vanilla ice cream, and cream filled pastries; the drink also seemed to be giving off a heavy layer of smoke, as if something along the lines of dry ice had been added. All in all, you were left open mouthed at the sight – but you had to admit, it suited him. It was jovial, bright, sweet and just a little bit different; all things you often associated with his character. Which had to make you question what your image must have seemed to make Grillby create your own concoction.

“Whoa...”

“Heh, cool, right?”

Grillby’s flames seem to flush a little pink under the praise, and he bows once again in thanks, which piques your curiosity.

“Uh oh, she’s got that look again Grillbz, you better watch out!”

“Huh?”

“Yes, Sans, whatever do you mean?”

“Y/n, I mean! She gets this look – you’ll never escape her questions now, Grillbz.”

You frown softly to yourself, before you feel the all familiar poke in your cheek.

“Hey, I’m just jokin’, don’t worry. I’m sure he won’t mind being _grilled_ for a while.”

You laugh weakly, while Grillby leans forward on the bar a little, seemingly not only not minding about being questioned, but feeling quite eager about the whole thing.

“Oh, uh….well, I noticed that you have really nice manners?”

Grillby’s flames once again seemed to flush a little pink, and he smiled.

“Why, thank you, my dear, that’s very kind of you to say. It was how I was raised in that day and age; nothing like certain skeletons that I know of….”

He gives Sans a sly look, which he returns with mock offense, trying to mimic Grillby’s deep, yet polite voice and failing terribly.

“My good sir, I object to that greatly!”

You cover your face with your hands in an effort to muffle your snorting laughter, while Sans coughs away his voice strain; Grillby merely shakes his head good naturedly.

“Uh, you said ‘day and age’?”

‘Yes indeed. It was up on the surface, just towards the end of the war -’

He stops abruptly at the look on your face.

“….the war?”

They both look at you in surprise, and slight pity. Sans sighs, pinching the bridge of his ‘nose’, and Grillby leans forward just a little more on the bar, his face serious.

“I’m guessing that you are yet to hear the full story as to why we’re all down here?”

“….no, I mean….I know that there’s a barrier, and it needs seven souls to break it….and that the two races fought….but...I’ve never known the _details_. Nobody’s said what started it, or….anything.”

“….there was a war, many, many years ago, up on the surface, when humans and monsters lived together. Humans were always slightly fearful, but there were many who accepted us….many of us who….loved one another. But sadly, that was our downfall, in the end.”

Grillby’s face was mournful.

“As you know, we monsters are very connected to our souls, and in those days, humans also knew of the ways – they could also practise magic.”

You feel your eyes widen in surprise, which Grillby takes note of.

“Oh yes, it was quite the common thing. I understand humans have long since lost the ability, but in those days….anyway, I digress. The war all started with one particular human/monster relationship; the couple decided to join souls, something never believed possible. The humans went into a frenzy; instead of seeing it for what it was, they were convinced that the monster had consumed his partner, destroying them in the worst way. They were terrified, in short. And so, the war began – there were casualties on both sides…..but the monsters were all but slaughtered. Eventually, the human mages sealed the few surviving monsters underground; where we have remained, to this day.”

Your hands are shaking by the end of his speech, tears threatening to spill.

“...I’m so sorry. I always knew it was awful, but -”

“Please, my dear, do not be sorry.”

You’re surprised by Grillby suddenly placing his fiery hands upon yours, a soft look upon his face.

“You are not like those who started the war. Your soul is pure and kind, y/n. The fact that you can feel sorrow for a situation that happened thousands of years ago….that more than proves to me that you’re a good person, someone I can lend my hope to.”

He smooths his hands upon yours, smiling at you directly.

“So please, my dear – _keep your own hope_.”

You don’t quite understand the sentiment for a second, before you remember about HP – Grillby’s wishes struck a deep chord with you, and you nodded, giving him a watery smile back. He withdrew his hands, a satisfied look upon his face.

“Now, I am sorry for the slightly downcast conversation, but at least it answers your question; I came, simply, from an era thousands of years ago, and have kept the majority of my mannerisms taught to me from that point.”

“You’ve…..aged really well.”

Grillby blushes once again at this, dipping his head.

“You flatter me, y/n – thank you.”

“Pfft, fire elementals _always_ age well.”

Sans is leaning across the bar with slightly narrowed eyes; Grillby looks at him with a seemingly suspicious glance, before he sighs, and suddenly takes up the empty plates – and your drink.

“Oh, uh-”

“I’m sorry, my dear, I simply must add something to this – it seems unfinished now, after our conversation. I promise, I’ll be right back.”

He walks away with an eager step, clearly excited about the new addition. You simply sigh, allowing your face to fall with a flop onto the bar. You quickly feel a poke to your cheek; still with your face upon the bar, you turn sullenly to the culprit.

“What’s up?”

“Y/n, look, please don’t feel bad.”

“...I brought up something horrible, of course I’m going to feel bad.”

Sans sighs at this, before also placing his face upon the bar, mimicking your position.

“You know, he meant what he said. And I….I’m the same. Y/n, you can’t blame yourself for some idiots in the past. I mean….from what you’ve told me about your life on the surface….if anything, you’re the same as us.”

“...what do you mean?”

“They were horrible to you, right? Horrible to the point that it drove you to the mountain – then you came here. Sure, I mean, seeing the surface, the sky, the sea; that’s wonderful. But at least down here, no one wants to intentionally hurt, y’know? Not if they can help it.”

You hum softly in agreement, before something occurs to you.

“You know how the war started? With that human and monster, joining souls?”

Sans looks slightly wary at this subject, but answers anyway.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Why did they do it, I mean? I, uh, get that they were in a relationship, but-”

Sans sighs sadly.

“Well, it’s not like I was there, but from what I’ve been told….they were in love. But humans don’t live as long as monsters, sadly. So when the human became….ill, they agreed that upon the human’s death, they’d join. Got it in writing and everything, not that it made a difference, in the end.”

“….so they became one….being?”

“Basically. That’s what happens, or so it’s believed.”

You slowly sit up, thinking about it, Sans watching you with that same wary expression.

“….that’s kind of beautiful, in a sad way.”

Sans also sits up, though perhaps a little more abruptly.

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, I mean….they didn’t want to be apart, even in death. They loved each other to that extent. It’s just so sad that they even had to make a choice like that – and, with how it ended….”

Sans simply nods, swilling his drink around, before sliding it to you.

“Here – try it.”

You throw him a sly grin.

“Why? ‘cause it’s ‘special’?”

He grins back at this, attempting to poke your cheek, which you skilfully avoid – he chuckles softly in response.

“Yup. Plus, I think it’s only fair, since I’ll be trying yours.”

“Whaaaat? And why are you assuming that?”

“Eh, thought I’d help you name it, since I’m so nice and all.”

You laugh, but not in a mean way, bringing the glass to your lips – before stopping.

“This isn’t alcoholic, is it?”

“Naw, you’re safe. Plus, I wanna test you on monster alcohol on a different night.”

He grins evilly, bridging his fingers like a super villain – you grumble in return, and take a sip of ‘The Sans Special’. You immediately groan happily at the taste; just like the scent, it was everything that was bad for you – aka, everything that anyone, and everyone, loves. Instead of being cool and refreshing as your drink had been, his was warm; like mulled wine, only sweeter – but not sickly. It was the perfect balance.

“Oh wow, that’s delicious.”

Sans smiles pleasantly, accepting the glass back, taking a swig himself and making a satisfied noise.

“I mean, how does Grillby get that kind of taste into a drink?!”

Sans thinks on this for a minute, before waggling his fingers mysteriously at you.

“Maaaaagic.”

“Oh, har de har, very funny.”

He’s giggling stupidly at this when Grillby returns; you gasp slightly at your drink’s new appearance. It’s still the same vibrant, almost glowing gold, but it now also carries an almost iridescent sheen; the surface of the drink sparks as if it’d been run through with electricity, and it carried a new scent to add to the mix of caramel, cinnamon and vanilla – sweet, sweet roses.

“Whoa Grillbz, buddy, you went to town, eh?”

Sans whistles as the drink is placed carefully in front of you, and Grillby flushes slightly with pride.

“There, my dear, this is far better suited – I think.”

You laugh at his uncertainty, gently picking up the glass to examine it further; you couldn’t quite fathom how it was sparking like a storm cloud – it didn’t look dangerous, or anything like that, just…..interesting.

“How is it -”

“Magic.”

You scowl at Sans, who grins manically in return. Sighing slightly, you bring the glass to your lips, taking a sip, and groaning at the delicious tastes upon your tongue; it’s much the same as the first, but much lighter, and somehow has deeper notes that you can’t quite put your finger on – not that it really mattered, as it was delicious.

“This is seriously amazing, Grillby. You’re an artisan.”

Grillby’s face turns completely pink, his voice garbled slightly as he rushes out numerous thank yous. Sans holds out a hand, his face the picture of curiosity; smiling, you hand over your glass, watching his face while he takes a sip.

“Whoa. Grillbz, gotta hand it to ya, buddy, that’s amazing.”

Grillby, whose face is still as pink as can be, smiles in a satisfied manner; you supposed that this was why he did his job, to make his patrons happy.

“Oh man, I still don’t know what to call it, though…..any ideas, guys?”

“I’m sorry, y/n, but I strictly make it a policy of mine not to help my customers with such things…..”

“...how about Kalon?”

Grillby looks at Sans with shock, as he somehow seems to understand; you however, do not, though you do like how the word sounds.

“Uh…..why Kalon?”

Sans’ face flushes slightly, and Grillby’s face suddenly expresses something akin to dawning realisation.

“….it just suits it.”

You had to agree, even if you were a little confused by their reactions.

“Sure, why not. Kalon it is.”

You hold up your glass to cheers with Sans with a grin, which he accepts; Grillby lets out a slightly smug chuckle, his flames crackling with an expression you couldn’t quite define.

“A fine name it is; it certainly suits. Well, I shall see you two at a later point, as I imagine you’ll be leaving soon, and I have an order to complete.”

“Oh, ok. Thank you, Grillby – for….everything.”

Grillby only smiles, giving a small bow, before he heads off to tend to his other customers. You hum, enjoying your drink, savouring every drop; but it was soon empty, much to your sadness. Sans also puts down his empty glass, looking at it regretfully; obviously feeling things akin to your own feelings. You giggle slightly at his expression; he flushes self consciously, poking your cheek, which you grumble at. Digging through your pockets, you start to split the bill with Sans, before he stops you.

“Hey, I’ll get the bill.”

“What? No, it’s ok.”

“You haven’t got a steady income yet, y/n, chill out – plus, you’ve made me breakfast about a million times.”

“Five times.”

“Like I said, a million. So, it’s all good.”

You grumble lowly, but concede – then gasp slightly, causing Sans to fumble with a gold coin in reaction.

“Oh man, where am I gonna get a job?”

Sans thinks on this for a second, before giving you a small smile.

“Eh, leave it with me – I’ll figure something out.”

“Sans, I can’t possibly let you -”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear, y/n….”

Grillby had returned while you two were bickering, a smile upon his face.

“I would be happy to offer you a position.”

“Oh, um, wow, thank you so much, Grillby!”

He chuckles slightly, his flames sparking.

“It’s no trouble; there’s always plenty to do around here. I would appreciate help taking orders – as you can see, I’m spread a little thin. Would twice a week be good for you?”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be – thank you again, Grillby.”

“No trouble at all, y/n; believe me when I say I should be thanking you, instead. Now, would starting next week, on Tuesday, be alright? Then….again on Friday?”

You nod happily, practically bouncing on your barstool; Sans and Grillby laugh in reaction, while you flush in slight embarrassment.

“Wonderful. Do you have a phone I could contact you on?”

Taking out your dinosaur of a phone (to Grillby’s credit, he doesn’t so much as snigger at it; which could not be said for Sans), you add in his number, while he takes yours in return – you then exit the bar with a wave, the sounds of the occupant’s goodbyes following you as you exit.

You’re about to start to crunch through the snow towards home when you suddenly feel a pair of arms around you; then you find yourself standing in the living room, with Sans giving you an easy grin. The house is quiet; Papyrus obviously already in bed. Sans therefore lowers his deep voice to a whisper.

“Welp, don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. You gonna be alright travelling to Alphys’ tomorrow, or would you like a ‘lift’?”

“I would say that I’ll be ok, but I don’t really have appropriate clothing for Hotland yet – can I steal a ‘lift’?”

“Sure. I’ll come pick you up later in the afternoon, ‘kay? Also to help Alphys look over results.”

You gulp nervously at this, which Sans notices, of course.

“Hey, don’t worry; you’ll be ok.”

“I know, it’s just….”

“….yeah, I get it. But it’ll be fine – you’ll see.”

You smile at him in thanks, which he blushes slightly at. Then, with a sigh, you start to walk towards the bathroom.

“Gonna start getting ready for sleep then – good night. I hope you sleep well.”

“…..thanks. I hope that you do, too.”

Before you can question his pause, he’s gone. You grumble slightly; you knew his sleeping was bad, just the same as yours – but you wanted to help. You weren’t sure how you would, but you’d try your best.

Feeling determined, you follow your nightly routine, before climbing the stairs to your room and flopping into your bed with a contented noise, and closing your eyes.

 

Only to fall straight into the Void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....so yeah, now Reader-chan has a job! Woop.  >:p
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	23. Lights Like Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we experience a strange....sensation....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

_You open your eyes to the seemingly endless, deep black of the Void; no matter how many times you were here, no matter how much ‘control’ you gained, it still unnerved you. You could almost feel it watching – the ‘air’ always vibrated around you, as if aware of your presence; and as Gaster had once said…..constantly trying to consume you._

_Shaking yourself out of those particular thoughts, you start to call out for your first monster acquaintance – and now good friend._

“ _Heeeey, Dings? Gaster? You around?”_

“ _I am always ‘around’, my dear – it’s not as if I have anywhere else to reside.”_

_He appears before you, a slight frown upon his cracked face – you summon a smile to try to cheer him._

“ _And soon, you will have far more places to ‘reside’ in – I’m determined to get you out of here, Gaster.”_

_He allows himself to smile at this, albeit a little sadly._

“ _I shall keep my hope, y/n. How are you? You’ve not been here for a few days.”_

“ _Two, I think. I just…..didn’t want to dream, you know? So maybe that influenced it, or something.”_

_Gaster hums in thought, stroking his chin methodically._

“ _Were you watching while I was at the lab?”_

_He looks up at this, his eye-lights sparking with sudden interest and curiosity._

“ _I was indeed. To have a perfect balance of every trait…..fascinating. Even during my time on the surface, I’ve never seen such a thing.”_

_You sighed; you’d hoped he might have had an idea. Seeing your disappointment, he places a comforting hand upon your shoulder, his expression gentle._

“ _My dear, please, do not fret. We shall find the answer – and I’m sure that it will all work out, in the end.”_

_You allow yourself to smile back at him – but you still see that scientific curiosity deep within his expression._

“ _What? What is it?”_

“ _Well….”_

_He hesitates, before continuing._

“ _Before falling to the Underground…..did you ever feel….different? I mean, have you experienced a change since arriving here?”_

_You think on this, humming slightly._

“ _Well, I….don’t think so? I mean, I feel healthy and happy down here, but I think, if anything, that’s due to everyone I’ve met. I’m just….me.”_

_Gaster again hums at this, looking at you curiously._

“ _It’s just that….it occurred to me, that you, out of all the people of Ebott, chose to climb up the mountain – not out of curiosity, but to live. Were you always attracted to it?”_

“ _Well, now that you mention it…..yes. But I always assumed it was due to me just…..hating the city.”_

“ _Perhaps it was something more than that. I mean, it could purely be circumstantial, but to have a soul such as yours, and to have such an unusual attraction to the entrance to the Underground…..it just seems….”_

“… _.a little too perfect? No, I agree.”_

_You both stand for a beat in silence, thinking upon the matter, before you speak up._

“ _I mean…..not that I mind, if that is the case. I’m happy here – who cares if it was fate, or some other bullshit.”_

_Gaster puffs out a soft laugh at your abrupt answer, patting your shoulder._

“ _I’m glad that you think in the way that you do, my dear.”_

“ _Heh. But, you know….I’m also wondering about something. You know how I got here? With you telling me about a demon?…..what is it, exactly? The demon thing….I mean.”_

_Gaster’s face turns serious._

“ _I became aware of it when I entered the Void. It is neither monster, nor human – I don’t know what it is. It feeds off any negative emotion; and I do mean **any**. I’ve seen….”_

_He sighs sadly, his face a picture of stress, before continuing._

“ _I’ve seen it posses the other souls that have fallen down here – the children. In some of them, it fed off their sadness, making them far easier to be….killed. Others, it made them….violent. It made those children commit murder.”_

_You gasp gently at this, your face now mirroring the horror etched upon Gaster’s._

“ _But you, y/n…..you’re an adult. They were mere children – when I saw you, I desperately wanted to intervene….and it seems that luck was on my side, as you entered the Void in your sleep. If that demon had possessed you, as it had with the children…..I didn’t want to think of what would happen. But I knew it hated that cave, as it was the entrance to the Underground; which it cannot enter without a host. I thought you would be safe….it never occurred to me that you might fall. I know that you’re not sorry that you did so, but…..I’m still….”_

_He looks away, his expression uncomfortable. You reach out, giving him a soft hug._

“ _Please, please, don’t feel that way. Believe me…..you did me the biggest favour I could ever hope for.”_

_Gaster hummed at this, clearly not fully convinced – but perhaps a little more positive about the subject._

“ _But yes….that is the ‘demon’. I’m afraid I do not know much….but at least you will not have to worry about it.”_

_You nod, withdrawing from the hug. Suddenly, you feel the familiar tug of returning to consciousness, and frown slightly – for the tug was paired with a different sensation, a different breed of tugging…._

_One that lay at the centre of your chest…._

_Where your soul resided._

“ _That’s odd…..I swear I’ve not been unconscious for long….”_

“ _You feel the urge to wake up?”_

“ _Kind of? It’s not really the same as usual. It’s just…tugging….”_

_You gasp slightly, holding a hand to were your soul lay._

“ _It hurts...”_

_Gaster frowns, concerned, placing his hands upon your shoulders._

“ _Do not fight it, then – wake up. I shall be observing the tests, do not worry. Now-”_

_He’s cut off by you gasping slightly louder, as the tugging becomes a stab; you feel as if your soul was trying to escape the confides of your being…..no, it felt as if it were being ripped out, as if you were being run through with a blade, as if a hot poker had -_

“ _Argh….uh….oh god.”_

“ _Wake up, y/n!”_

_Gaster is panicking at this point, shaking your shoulders slightly. You manage to nod through your gasps, holding your chest with a clutched fist. Slowly, you focus on that pulling feeling past the pain, and will yourself with in – you’re suddenly yanked upward, and into consciousness._

 

You scream reflexively; then cover your mouth to muffle it. You can still feel a slight painful tug in your chest – you smooth your hands over the area, frowning. Still feeling the sting, you sigh, giving up on sleep momentarily, and swing your legs over the side of the bed. Upon looking at your phone, you groan as you see it’s the middle of the night; and not only were you wide awake, you still have that persistent tugging – you’d really hoped that it would disappear when you woke up…

_But at least it’s not as bad as it was when I was asleep…._

You massage your temple with one hand, the other still rubbing the centre of your chest automatically (even though the action did very little to soothe the tugging). Then, all of a sudden, you start as there’s a sharp, and very loud thump on the wall. You sit frozen in surprise for a second, before another, and another follow – then you realise that it’s coming from Sans’ room. Bolting up from sitting, you rush out of your room to his door; you didn’t want to disturb him, but something deep within you knew that something was wrong. You knock hesitantly, not wishing to wake Papyrus, but wanting to be loud enough to alert Sans to your presence.

“Sans? Are you ok?”

Silence. Or rather, there was silence for a few seconds, before you hear another two, loud thumps, followed by a pained moan. This makes up your mind; you open the door in a rush, and gasp lightly at the sight before you.

The room almost looked as though it was on fire; even though Sans’ eyes were shut, his left eye was emitting such a strong stream of blue light that it lit up everything in sight. He thrashed upon his bed, sheets tangled around his frame as his face winced and wrinkled with unseen pain, sweat upon his brow as he moaned.

You cautiously entered the room, closing the door behind you softly. You swiftly walked to his bedside, kneeling beside him, and reached out to gently touch his shoulder.

“Sans? Sans, wake up -”

He simply groans more, gasping and struggling. You gently shake his shoulder; still no reaction. Sighing in worry and frustration, you softly lay a hand upon his cheek.

“Sans, c’mon; you’re having a nightmare. Wake up, please...”

His motions seem to calm a little at your touch, his expression smoothing out, as his breathing became slightly less panicked. You could tell he wasn’t quite out of whatever he was living through, though; his arms and legs twitched and clenched with stress, his magic still flickering like a burning flame from under his eyelid. You shake him gently once again, a hand still upon his cheek.

“Sans….it’s ok. It’s all gonna be ok. I’m here.”

He suddenly jolts, his eyes snapping open; you wince at the sudden, startling flash of bright blue light. Then everything seems to slow as you realise that in his panic, he’d flung you across his room. You smack the opposite wall with a loud thump – luckily (or not so luckily, depending how you look at it) landing in a pile of clothing and socks. Sans sits up with a jagged gasp, a hand clutching his chest, his eye-light wild and searching, his other eye still ablaze with the turquoise blue of his magic; it almost looked as if his socket was on fire, it burned so furiously. You let out a soft groan, and rubbed the back of your head; thankfully, you hadn’t injured yourself. His gaze snaps to you at your groan, the magic dissipating to his usual white eye-lights.

“...y/n…?”

“….hey there.”

You struggle to stand from your clothing pile, picking stray socks off your person, while Sans gasps in panic.

“Oh my god…..what did I…..”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, I’m fine…..you really _socked_ it to me, hehe.”

The weak pun didn’t do much for him, as his eye lights had shrunk to pinpoints, his hands clutching at the sides of his head.

“I hurt you….oh god, I-”

“No, you didn’t. I’m just fine, please….you didn’t mean to do anything, you were having a really bad nightmare, you know?”

He allowed himself to look at you, his hands shaking slightly; he finally sighs in relief, seeing that you were truly ok as you approach his bedside once more, plonking yourself on the mattress.

“….I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m just glad that you woke up; it looked horrible, I was really worried for you. Are you….ok?”

He gulped slightly, and rubbed at one of his eyes wearily.

“….yeah, I’m ok. I’m kinda used to it by now.”

“….wanna talk about it?”

He tensed, meeting your eyes with a tight smile.

“….oh, you know, same old, same old, heh….”

“….everyone….being gone, again?”

He nodded quickly, swallowing uncomfortably again.

“Yeah. And, I uh….I died, too.”

You reached out, placing a hand upon his shaking ones, giving him a tired smile. After a moment, he returns in genuinely, his eye lights returning to a normal size; you’d already begun to associate the size change with things like stress, or interest – it was fascinating that they seemed to respond just like a normal pupil.

“I didn’t wake you, did I, y/n?”

“Uh, no, actually….well, I don’t think so? I uh….I woke up thanks to something a little different, though.”

You clutch absent-mindedly at your chest, a motion not unnoticed by Sans.

“...your….soul?”

“I think so? It hurt, anyway.”

Sans frowns worriedly, grasping at the hand you’d originally placed upon his; you hadn’t noticed that you’d left it there, a fact that left you feeling just a little mortified – but you supposed that the current situation didn’t make it too embarrassing.

“Are you ok? Does it hurt now, I mean?”

“….now that you mention it, no….not even a little bit.”

“What kind of pain was it?”

“It….was like being stabbed, and tugged, all at the same time.”

Sans thinks on this for a second, before sudden understanding dawns upon his face; he regards you with an expression of wonder, his eye lights growing slightly in size – before he shakes his head with a gentle cough.

“What? What is it?”

“Uh...nothing, don’t worry.”

You frown at him, crossing your arms suddenly, removing your hand from his.

“Nothing? Sans, you’re not too good a liar, you know.”

He grumbles, rubbing his cheek distractedly.

“Ok, not nothing, but….it’s not really anything I can remark on, as such.”

“….what do you mean?”

“I mean….urgh. It’s just a stupid thought from a tired mind….don’t worry about it, please?”

Still frowning, you huff, but nod anyway; you couldn’t exactly make him tell you, especially not when he was already under quite a bit of stress thanks to his nightmare – asking him at a later date, though, would be a possible option.

Instead, you stand, offering him a hand, which he stares confusedly at, before looking up at you; you sigh.

“Look. Sitting in bed and thinking about it all alone isn’t going to help; let’s go chill somewhere else and think about something….lighter, ok?”

He gives you a small smile, taking you hand; even though he was considerably taller than you, and was more than capable of standing up by himself, he clearly appreciated the gesture. You pad softly out of his room, standing in the hallway; Papyrus was still snoring, clearly completely undisturbed by all the previous noise.

“So, y/n, where to?”

“Hmm…..well, there’s the couch, the kitchen, or….my room? I guess? I mean, I would add the roof to that mix, but it might _chill you to the bone.”_

You laugh awkwardly; he chuckles along, appreciating the poor humour.

“We could get some hot chocolate then chill in your room, if you like? Might stop Paps from trying to drag you out for an early run, anyway...”

You groan slightly, remembering the utter exhaustion, even if Papyrus had healed you up after.

“Yeeeah….not feeling quite up for that, especially since I’ll be heading out to the lab….yup, sounds like a plan, let’s do it.”

You see he’s about to embrace you for a ‘short cut’ but you stop him, waggling a finger in a teasing manner.

“Uh-uh-uh. Nope. It’s just downstairs – besides, I’m sure you’re pretty low on magic at the moment, right?”

You start to make your way towards the stairs; but then squeak as he grabs your waist anyway, teleporting you both to the kitchen. You turn to him with a stubborn frown, which he returns with a smug expression as he starts to get out the necessary items to make hot chocolate.

“Naw – I got plenty to spare. Besides, it’s quieter this way.”

“I can’t argue with that, but…..are you sure? I mean, the whole room was alight with the stuff, it was...”

He stiffens up slightly, looking at you worriedly.

“….I’m sorry. It must have been scary.”

“...what, your magic? No way! If I wasn’t so worried for you, I would have been admiring it, if anything; it was like…..like fire, or something.”

Sans hums thoughtfully as he focuses on mixing his ingredients over the heat from the hob.

“Yeah, that kind of thing can happen with stress, where magic is concerned; heh, it’s part of the reason why my room is always such a mess – I start lifting stuff up in my sleep, and hey presto, we have a mess.”

“So when you threw me into your dirty laundry….that was your ‘lifting’ magic?”

He stiffens up once more, looking at you apologetically with a nod.

“Look, I’m not upset about it or anything…..just interested. Heh, if anything, it was kinda cool.”

He raises a brow bone, his expression sarcastic.

“No, really! I mean, if you look at it from a certain point of view, I flew.”

He lets out a bark of laughter, his expression still slightly sour. You poke his side; he makes an attractive squeaking noise, his head whipping to you in surprise while you giggle – he pokes your cheek with a frown.

“Hehe, I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist! Hey, but, I know this is gonna sound weird, but….I mean, is it the same as when I touch your hands, or face? It just….feels like you have a….torso?”

He blushes slightly, chuckling awkwardly.

“Yup, same kinda thing; just got bare bones under here, buddy.”

“But you can still feel me poking you?”

“Yeah? I mean, you’re forgetting; a monster’s body is constructed from magic. So, it doesn’t matter if it’s just magic there, and nothing else…..it’s still me, and I’m still gonna feel it.”

“….so….does that make you…. _ticklish_?”

His head whips around to meet your villainous expression, and he lets out a low growl.

“No.”

“Oh, are you _sure_ …?”

He returns to his saucepan, mixing the chocolate furiously.

“….can you get out some mugs?”

You smirk, noticing him skirting around the subject, before opening up the cupboard and getting out two plain white china mugs, placing them on the counter surface next to him.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you’re _china_ avoid this topic.”

He pouts, but you can still hear the sputter of laughter.

“What can I say, don’t find it very _humerus.”_

“Aw, so it doesn’t _tickle your funny bone?_ ’”

He snorts, pouring the chocolate into the mugs, and throwing in the marshmallows to melt down. As soon as you see that there’s no danger of the precious drinks being spilled, you attack, scrabbling your fingers up and down his sides with gusto. He squeaks once again, then with another growl, you feel yourself float off the ground; to the point where you’re touching the ceiling – aka, too far away to tickle him. You let out an excited laugh, marvelling at the fact you’re levitating; which Sans seems unable to resist smiling at, despite his obvious chagrin at being tickled.

“This is so cool!”

“You know, it’s supposed to be some kind of a punishment.”

“Well, it’s not working very well – aw man, it’s so weird being able to touch the ceiling, heh.”

Sans shakes his head, snorting out a laugh.

“Anyway, despite this all being really cool and all – _please_ don’t tickle me? Honestly, I hate it.”

“Why, because you squeak?”

He flushes, then covers his face with a hand.

“….sure, let’s go with that.”

“Heh, ok, I promise; I mean, I don’t really want to sleep on the ceiling tonight, despite how cool this is.”

He allows you to come down, gently setting you back on solid ground. You look up and whistle; the ceiling was certainly higher than you’d ever noticed. As a peace offering, you grab both mugs, offering him his; he simply looks at it, before giving you an easy wink.

“Y’know, you were right; it _was_ a shit punishment. I think I’m just gonna go chill on your bed, and you can bring those up….you know, the traditional way.”

“Don’t you _dare_ -”

He disappears with a Cheshire cat grin, leaving you to gasp in indignation and stomp your foot.

“You lazy son of a bitch!”

Huffing, you consider doing something evil like putting salt in his chocolate before thinking better of it; not only had he already had a rough enough night as it was, you had a feeling starting a prank war with someone like Sans would not be the wisest of choices.

Tightening your grip on the mugs, you creep your way delicately up the staircase, noting with a relieved sigh that Papyrus was still sound asleep – you pad your way along the carpeted hallway to your room, nudging the door open with your foot, as your hands were full; only to burst out into stupid giggles, seeing that Sans was posed in a dramatic, Mettaton-like fashion upon your bed. He chuckles with you, assuming something a little more relaxed; he shuffles to sit with his back upon the headboard before sighing – you hand him his mug with a grin, walking back slightly to shut the door, then plonking yourself next to him with a mimicked sigh.

You sip the sweet warmth of melted marshmallows and chocolate, allowing yourself to relax and sink a little deeper into the plush of your bed.

“Oh man, this bed is awesome – I might just have to steal it.”

You mimic a growl, making Sans snort with laughter (you supposed it probably did sound pretty silly to someone who actually could growl).

“No way! This is mine now; claimed it and everything. You have your own bed!…..well, mattress. But still!”

Sans makes an exaggerated snuggling motion, his expression smug. You simply continue to sip your hot chocolate, narrowing your eyes at him, which he grins wider at, enjoying your mock frustrations.

“How’s your, uh….has there been any more pain?”

He’s looking at you curiously, his eye lights widening slightly with interest.

“No, I feel completely normal now….do you think that there’s anything wrong…? I mean, I know you don’t want to talk about whatever you think that it might be, but….”

He sighs, looking into the contents of his mug as if it was going to tell him the answers.

“No, I wouldn’t say that – I mean, obviously, I might be wrong, but from the looks of things, I don’t think there’s anything….bad going on.”

“Well, that’s a relief, I must admit. How about you? Feeling ok?”

He smiles at you softly, taking another sip before answering.

“Yeah, much better – you were right, getting out of that room really helped. Plus, you know, I have a feeling your super comfy bed has some kind of healing abilities.”

You roll your eyes, taking a heavy gulp of chocolate, finishing off your mug – which you suddenly find has disappeared from your hands, and thanks to Sans, has hopefully ended up in the sink; given the fact that his mug seems to have mysteriously disappeared as well. You sigh comfortably, sinking into the plush pillows, your eye lids drooping with fatigue.

“Hey, you alright there, y/n?”

You sleepily look over, chuckling weakly when you see that Sans is in a similar state to you – but you imagine that he’s probably verging on total exhaustion, considering that his sleep pattern had obviously been terrible for quite the time, now.

“Yeah, just a bit sleepy...”

You finish this with a yawn, which Sans mirrors after a few seconds, making you chuckle.

“Gotta say, kinda tired myself...”

“Oh really? You better not be _lying_ to me.”

It takes Sans a second, before he offers a weak grin.

“Heh, wouldn’t _dream_ of it, bud. Anyways, I’d better -”

“No, it’s fine.”

He frowned at you, not quite comprehending – but you didn’t want him to go, if it meant he’d just have another nightmare and wake up alone and scared. Your bed was enormous; more than enough room for you and him – hell, Papyrus would be able to join the party and there would still be room.

“Yeah, stay here; it’s the middle of the night, you’re exhausted, I’m exhausted – plus, if you might sleep better, you know? Might not have as many bad dreams….”

You yawn again, feeling your eyes tear up with the sensation, before you look over to Sans; he’d fallen asleep while you’d been speaking – you sigh softly. You didn’t think he’d really been awake enough to realise what you were saying, but you were too tired to care at this point. Groaning, you pull the covers over the two of you, snuggling down a little more into the pillows.

 

And finally falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gasp* Demons? Random tugging in Reader-chan's soul?......Sans in Reader-chan's bed?!.... ( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	24. More Books, More Tests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we find out a few more facts about our soul....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You’re awoken by a loud squawking noise, followed by a louder ‘thump’. You grumble in response, allowing your eyelids to slowly creep open; only to meet the eye-lights of a very startled Sans sitting upon your floor….well, startled was a massive understatement – perhaps stupefied was something a little more accurate.

“Well, good morning to you, too.”

“ _Wha-! Wh_...”

You giggle, covering your mouth slightly as you yawn through your laughter – it seemed he couldn’t even form a coherent sentence.

“Look, you fell asleep in my bed last night, ok? As if that wasn’t obvious….but I didn’t mind. I was gonna say just to stay here anyway, as you might sleep a bit better – you know, not have as many nightmares, or whatever.”

He blinks, processing what you’d said, before groaning, and covering his face; not that it did much, as you’d already seen that he was blushing furiously.

“Oh my stars, what the hell, y/n! I seriously -”

You laugh, flicking his forehead, making him jump – he frowns at you, rubbing the area.

“Heh, I’m sorry, ok? It’s just that I was really tired, as well, so…..I didn’t want to wake you up to explain again. See, I can be a _lazy bones_ as well.”

He rewards you with a weak laugh, before you offer a hand to him – he takes it to stand, but at the last moment you tug with all your might, resulting in him fall back onto the bed with a grunt.

Ignoring his grumbling, you clamber back over to your side, checking your phone; it was 10:30am, which wasn’t too bad, considering you had to be at the lab around 1:00pm. You stretch absent-mindedly, then wince as your spine makes a series of snaps akin to a firecracker; you turn to Sans, about to apologise profusely, only to see him looking vaguely stunned. You give him a quizzical look in return.

“I….I thought you said….”

“Yeah. But that was frankly impressive.”

You laugh at this, flopping upon the pillows lazily. Sans is still laying stretched where you’d unceremoniously thrown him; he looked better than you’d ever seen him, the shadows under his eyes barely visible.

“Did you sleep better, then?”

He looks over to you, before smiling with a slightly wondering expression.

“Yeah….better than I have….in forever, actually.”

You feel touched for a second, before his grin turns mischievous.

“…must be this amazing bed. Gonna have to steal it.”

You grab a pillow and promptly smack it atop his head, hearing a muffled ‘ow’ in return. You hop casually off the squishy mattress, moving around the room to gather clothing – you decided to keep it fairly relaxed, grabbing leggings and an oversized t-shirt (which had a large boulder wearing sunglasses, with the words ‘rock star’ above). You turn to see Sans hadn’t moved an inch, pillow upon his face and all. Lifting it from his face, you give him a blank expression, and receive a shrug in response.

“Are you planning to go to work, or….?”

“What time is it?”

“Around 10:30am. I have to be there for 1:00pm.”

“Yeah, I’ll just go get my coat…..grab a muffin….or two….but I’ll stick around today, I think.”

“Heh, thought you wanted to work?”

“I _will_ be working. Just a little less than usual.”

He winks, and you groan, about to plop the pillow back upon his face – but he’s too quick for you, as he pops out of existence; you can hear him laughing victoriously from his room, and you roll your eyes, heading to the bathroom to have your shower and other cleaning rituals. You take your sweet time, enjoying the water flowing over your skin, brushing through your hair, and having a good dance around in your clothing, just for the sake of fun. In the middle of the slightly strange routine, you hear Sans yell out a goodbye, which you return; but other than that, you have the house to yourself – something you’d not actually had before.

Not that you had anything all that interesting to do with such a gift….aside from exiting the bathroom still dancing, and continuing your dance around the living room, tunelessly humming. After getting bored with this, you check the time, and grumble at seeing it was only 11:30am – which is when you see the pile of books. Happily you grab one of the few remaining muffins for breakfast (Sans had definitely grabbed more than two, as you imagined that Papyrus would be the type to be polite and only take one), and start to search for Jane Eyre so you could continue it, but instead come across….a joke book. You grin evilly, hoping to steal some of Sans’ material…..but upon opening it, you discover his quantum physics book. Mentally face palming at his attempt to hide it, you flick through to a page that had been bookmarked; it was on the multiverse theory. Interested, you guide yourself to the couch, your nose still in the book’s contents, munching on your breakfast muffin.

  


_ The  _ _**multiverse** _ _ (or  _ _**meta-universe** _ _ ) is the hypothetical set of possible universes, including the universe in which we live. Together, these universes  _ _ are  _ _ comprise _ _ d of _ _ everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, and the physical laws and constants that describe them.  _ _The various universes within the multiverse are called "parallel universes", "other universes", or "alternative universes"._

  


You hum to yourself; it’d always been an interesting subject within quantum physics to you, along with string theory – you decide to give up briefly on Jane Eyre in favour of a little scientific reading. So begins your brain workout; you read up on general quantum mechanics, how it links to basic biology and particle matter, and, of course, string theory – theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings, and how that connects to the theory of quantum gravity.

You’re so buried in your research, you don’t hear the subtle sound of feet upon the carpet – so you practically scream when someone lifts the book from your grasp. Sans jumps in response, almost dropping the book with a grunt.

“Oh geez Sans, I think you gave me a heart attack!”

He sighs, putting the book back upon the pile; then generally tidying said pile, as you’d left it a little chaotic (Papyrus would be proud).

“Sorry about that; didn’t realise you were so concentrated, bud. Enjoying your ‘light read’?”

“Yes, actually – but you shouldn’t scare me like that...and here’s me thinking that you were my _alloy_ _!_ ’” 

He gives off the loudest snort you’d heard from him yet, as he sits next to you on the couch.

“What can I say? I’m _alkynes_ of trouble.”

You giggle; science puns had always been a favourite. He grins at you easily, before letting out a huff.

“You ready? It’s almost one.”

“You’re kidding?! Oh man, I didn’t think I’d been reading for that long….”

“Well, wouldn’t be the first time someone’s been absorbed by a book; you should thank me, you might have never have escaped.”

“Oh, har de har, very funny. Still, it was kinda nice – subjects like the multiverse theory have always been interesting...”

Sans tightens up next to you, his smile slightly strained; you look at him in surprise.

“Are you….ok? Did I say something wrong? I mean, I’m sorry for touching your book – don’t worry, I left the bookmark in….”

He sighs, before shaking his head.

“Don’t worry about it – heh, let’s just say I’m not a fan of the multiverse theory.”

You frown, not understanding his statement, before he waves a hand dismissively.

“Forget about it; I’m just talking shit. Anyway, you ready?”

“….yeah, I think so. You sure you’re ok?”

He simply grins at you, though you can tell it’s a little fake.

“...well, ok then, if you say so. But yeah, I’ll just put on some shoes….”

You run upstairs and grab your  sneakers – something you hadn’t worn for a good week, given the amount of snow; but after remembering the heat in Hotland, you really didn’t feel like wearing your  boots, as comfy as they were.  As you sit on the side of your bed to pull them on, you frown to yourself; it was obvious something was bothering him, but it was for such a confusing reason.

_I mean, he loves science, right? So why would a subject in quantum physics make him pull an expression like that? Why would he even bookmark something that upsets him?_

You tie your laces, and shift your feet a little to make sure that you were comfortable, before standing – you give a hearty stretch, as you were alone, allowing your joints to crack and release some muscle pressure. You sigh softly to yourself; you’d like to think that you and Sans were quite close now as friends – even though you’d only known each other for little over a week, you’d shared a lot with him, and you got on like a house on fire. You could honestly say he was the closest friend that you’d ever had….but he clearly had things that he was bearing by himself and torturing himself over. You didn’t know what those things were, but you were determined to be there for him – and you hoped that, one day, he would allow you to share that burden with him, so he wouldn’t have to be so alone. You huff with conviction, and start to make your way back downstairs.

“Hey, I’m ready.”

Sans is still sat upon the couch, and appears to be quite happy to stay there, as you walk to stand in front of him.

“Hello? Earth to Sans?”

You poke his cheek; he grins at you, before standing up with a satisfied noise – something seemed so different about him, you couldn’t quite put your finger on it, before the realisation finally struck.

“Huh, you really must have slept well….I mean, you seem to have so much more energy?”

He flushes slightly, before rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward chuckle.

“Eh, I mean…..yeah, I did. Like I said, I’ve not….slept that well in forever.”

“No bad dreams?”

He thinks on this, before his face dawns in some confusion.

“...no. No bad dreams. I’ve not….it’s been so long, haha.”

You gave his shoulder a happy pat, as he breaks out of his confused expression to look at you.

“I’m really happy. I mean, I know what having bad dreams is like, so….”

He shuts his eyes, his expression peaceful; before he gives you a cheeky grin and embraces you, while you give a confused squeak – only to finish such an awkward noise as you suddenly appear in Alphys’ lab. Alphys herself is sat upon the couch; she masterfully covers up your squeak with one of her own, quickly turning off the television that she’d been watching presumably before you arrived.

“Sans! You scared Alphys! Hey, are you ok?”

“O-oh, yes, I-I’m f-f-fine. D-don’t w-worry.”

You notice her stammer was bad to the point you could barely understand her; you throw an acidic look over to Sans, who shrugs at the two of you apologetically.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Alph – thought I was gonna end up outside the doors.”

“T-That’s ok! You’re right o-on time, anyway.”

She stands, brushing herself off; she was currently wearing a relaxed pair of black trousers (which had a hole for her tail, of course), paired with a pastel pink vest top – she quickly picked up her lab coat, which was slung over the back of the couch, and wriggled into it. Sans walked over to the now vacated couch, practically throwing himself upon it with a satisfied stretch; it was times like this that he reminded you of a spoiled cat.

“So, y/n, t-today I thought we could re-do the s-soul surface test, just t-to see if we missed anything….and then perhaps….h-hmmm….”

“How ‘bout we do x-ray physical? And maybe a scrape test, at some point….no wait, that could be risky….”

Alphys looks over to Sans in confusion, before realisation dawns on her face.

“O-oh! Because of her H-HP?”

“Guys, I have no idea what you’re talking about…?”

Alphys looks at you apologetically, before explaining.

“W-well, an x-ray ph-physical looks at how your s-soul’s energy moves throughout y-your physical f-form. And the scrape t-test takes a t-tiny fragment of your s-soul to analyse, b-but we’re worried that it might h-hurt you….”

“Oh, uh, ok then. Well, I don’t fancy getting hurt….so maybe the other two tests would be a good idea? Then we can always….think about it, I don’t know.”

Alphys nods with her nervous smile, and Sans hums in agreement from the couch.

“R-Right. So we’ll start with the s-soul surface, and follow with the x-x-ray….right. O-ok then, y/n, follow m-me.”

“I’ll be here, on the couch, if you need me.”

Sans gives you a lazy grin, as he stretches a little more upon the couch as if to emphasis his point; you wave goodbye, before steeling yourself and following Alphys down the starched white hallways that would lead to the test rooms. She guides you into the same room you’d been in before, to the same reclining operating chair; you sit yourself down – it didn’t matter how comfortable the chair was, things like hospitals always made your skin crawl in a way you couldn’t describe. Alphys goes over to her control panel; she seemed a lot more comfortable than she had been previously – perhaps having a chaotic evening of gaming had left her a little more confident being herself around you.

“So, h-how are you, y/n?”

“I’m pretty good – I’ve actually managed to get a job.”

“O-oh wow! I didn’t r-realise that you were looking, b-but that’s great!”

“Heh, I wasn’t initially, but after I went out with Sans to Grillby’s one night, I just….it kind of hit me, you know, since I’ll be living there.”

“W-wait! Y-you….”

She blinks, seemingly confused with numerous things that you’d said.

“You….want t-to stay here?”

“Uh….well….yeah? I have friends here, and family….it’s something I’ve never had before.”

You hold a hand over your body self consciously, an action Alphys seems to recognise, as she looks at you sympathetically.

“I-I’m sorry. B-but! I’m happy to say that I-I think of you as a f-friend, y/n.”

“...thanks Alphys. It’s just….really nice to have someone I can think of as a friend too, you know? It….it matters.”

She nods, smiling at you as she taps a few more things upon her control panel, before she gives you a sly look.

“A-And….you went out with S-Sans?”

“….yeah? We just got some dinner, as I was really cold, and he thought that it would be the best place for me to get warm.”

“O-Oh really?”

You give her a droll expression; she laughs in response, her cute snorts filling the room, making the hospital atmosphere a little less unpleasant.

“I-I’m sorry, I’ll stop t-teasing…..right, I think w-we’re just about ready here.”

She approaches you, before gently taking your soul out. The kaleidoscope lights fill the space and light refraction bounces off the walls, leaving rainbow patterns in its wake. You then hear Alphys take in a sharp breath; you look at her questioningly, but frown in a concerned way when you see that she’s covered her mouth, her eyes full of tears as she looks at your soul.

“O-oh, y/n….I-I’m so sorry. I...”

“W-what’s wrong…?”

“The….t-the cracks...”

You look back at your soul, sighing slightly; the small, hairlines fractures across your soul, giving it the appearance of broken china that had been repaired, over and over – you’d almost forgotten that they littered the surface of your crystalline soul.

“Yeah, it’s always been like that…..heh.”

“I-I….didn’t n-notice the first time….”

She hurriedly wipes away the tears that are threatening to fall; you reach out a hand to try to help, which she shakes her head at, a reassuring look upon her face.

“I-it’s ok. You n-need to stay still, a-anyway….u-um. Look….if y-you ever need to talk, o-or even just r-relax, watch anime, a-and forget things for a while….I-I’m here for you, ok?”

You feel tears starting to surface yourself, which you also wipe away hurriedly, laughing in a flustered manner.

“...yeah. That sounds great. Or, or, you know, a better idea….we could have a designated anime night, or something!”

She laughs gently, before placing a clawed hand upon your own in a comforting manner, just for a few seconds.

“S-sounds great! R-right, let’s get this over and done with….”

She hurries over to the control panel, tapping her claws along the surface, until, once again, the nearby machine lit up and beeped in a conclusive way, before vomiting out a stream of paper.

Alphys taps her way over, taking up the papers in her claws, giving them a skim read; before sighing softly.

“I-it looks the same as l-last time, I think. B-but I’ll look at i-it more later, just in c-case. Ok, y/n, I’ll n-need you to come s-step behind this panel.”

She gestures to something that looks a little like a screen, apart from the fact it was a thick black, the surface giving off the glossy tones of glass, or polished obsidian.

“What about my soul?”

“W-We need it out f-for this test, so….”

Hesitantly, you sit up, but relax when you notice your soul seemed to follow you, almost acting as if it were attached to you like a balloon on a string; it hung in the centre of your chest, gently waving around with your movement.

You walk to the panel, your sneakered feet softly tapping along the marble tiled floor, as you gently slide yourself behind it, standing directly in the centre.

“O-ok, y/n, I’ll need you to k-keep still for just a second...”

You did as instructed, keeping yourself entertained by watching the shifting colours within your soul as Alphys tapped away at something in the distance.

“Al-alright, there’s going to be a little f-flash of light, y/n, then we’ll b-be done.”

You shut your eyes to avoid jumping; there’s a click as if an old camera went off, along with a similar flash of light.

“….Ok! Y-you can come out, now.”

You slide yourself out, and Alphys walks over, gently pushing your soul back to where it belonged; she’s carrying a small pile of papers, along with something that almost looked like a photo negative – however, you couldn’t get a good look as she started to lead the way back out of the lab.

Sans is still sprawled where you left him, appearing to be examining the ceiling as his thoughts wondered. However, he turns his attention to the two of you when you entered, giving you a quick grin before looking at the pile of papers in Alphys’ arms with interest.

You and Alphys sit on either side of him; she starts to hand him papers, which you soon understood were copies of the results – good thinking on Alphys’ part, as it would save time. At first, you look over Sans’ shoulder, trying to understand what was written there, before quickly realising that you were in way over your head; you might understand many subjects in science, but you were completely ignorant in terms of science to do with the soul – perhaps one day either Sans or Alphys could teach you the basics so you wouldn’t have that fish out of water feeling….plus, your natural curiosity was eating away at you thanks to your lack of experience in the area.

What did interest you, however, was the photo negative that had been placed upon a lit up tablet upon the coffee table in front of you; instead of showing your bones, it almost looked like it had taken a tracing of the patterns of your veins and capillaries – though, while similar, it was completely different to that. It was intricate to the point of being ridiculous, like one of those impossible string mazes; weaving around each other like snakes or vines.

So you concentrated on tracing the different patterns in the picture, while Sans and Alphys assessed the data independently, humming occasionally, and scribbling upon paper. Every so often, they would look over to the x-ray, then back at the notes, frowning in concentration. After a good half hour of this, you find yourself becoming a little impatient; you shift uncomfortably in your seat, tapping the tips of your fingers gently upon the surface of the arm of the couch – Sans looks over to you sympathetically.

“Heh, sorry, y/n – I’m basically finished, I think. But, it still doesn’t make….much sense. How ‘bout you, Alph?”

“Y-yes, more or less the s-same, I’m afraid….”

“So what’s the result?”

“Well, from what I could see, the result of the first test was exactly the same as when we first took it….all equal, all traits present, as well as some we have, uh….we’ve never seen ‘em before, so that’s….yeah. The x-ray physical is just as confusing, though – see, in a monster, soul energy is everywhere, obviously, 100%, while in a human, it makes up around 50% at the highest. But….but with you….”

He huffs slightly, rubbing his head, looking at the papers as if he still can’t quite get it.

“It looks to be at about….90%?”

“…. _what the hell?_ What does that even….”

“W-we’re not sure.”

“...am I even human?”

“Buddy, you have physical matter – as in, organs, all that human jazz. Unless you’re secretly a skeleton monster hiding under a flesh sack, you’re a human.”

You laugh a little, which he was clearly trying to achieve, as he pats you knee with a wink.

“We’ll n-need to do some m-more tests, it s-seems….b-but I d-dont want to do a scrape test unless i-it’s completely necessary. I-I’ll need a while t-to set up o-other machines, though, so….”

“What tests did ya wanna do, Alph?”

“I was t-thinking perhaps an attack physical, the-then maybe….hmm….general energy a-analysis?”

“Hmm, yeah, then maybe it will -”

You raise a hand hesitantly, ducking your head a little.

“Uh, translation?”

“O-oh, sorry, y-y/n.”

“An attack physical is when you have your soul’s energy analysed while you’re in a battle – so we can see how it reacts in response. Obviously, it would just be you dodging, but it should show something….I think. And a general energy analysis is basically a test to see if you can accurately sense when magic is being used around you.”

“Uh….ok? I think I get it? Maybe?”

Sans chuckles, while Alphys gives you an apologetic look.

“S-sorry, y/n – I k-know this seems like a-a lot.”

“What’re you looking to learn from it?”

“Well, since it looks like you have a lot of, uh, energy, it would be interesting to see if it reacts to attacks – and if it makes you able to sense magic energy.”

“….ok then. And if I can?”

“...let’s just say it would be interesting.”

“A-and to do b-both tests, I’ll n-need to set up a f-few rooms, so….”

Alphys hums, tapping her claws along her jaw gently, before looking at you nervously.

“...m-maybe two w-weeks minimum until w-we co-continue? I-is that o-ok?”

You smile, reaching over Sans (who ducks politely out of the way) to pat her arm comfortingly, to try to ease her nervousness a little.

“Yeah, perfectly fine. We’ll hang out in the meantime, though! Have an anime night, or something.”

Her eyes practically light up like stars, as she gasps out affirmatives, making you grin with equal excitement. Sans meanwhile stretches back into the couch, humming to himself pleasantly.

“S-so, h-how about n-next Thursday?”

“Yeah, that should be fine! I’ll be working Friday evening, so it won’t matter if we’re up all night....”

“Sounds good, bud.”

You narrow your eyes at Sans, who gives you a teasing, sly look back, his eyes hooded. You poke his side, making him grin wider.

“Who said you were invited, eh?”

“Aw, y/n, c’mon, that’s just mean.”

“Nope. Girl’s night only.”

Sans pouts, and you laugh in response, but you do not yield – you like the idea of spending some time with Alphys to nerd out over different animes and the like. He finally shrugs – not that he had given much of a fight to begin with; you’d known he was just teasing.

Something suddenly occurs to you, and you quickly pull your phone, and retrieve the mass of wires and warped metal that had been your old phone. Alphys squeaks in excitement when she sees this, holding her claws out eagerly; you laugh, gently dropping the mess into her awaiting hands.

“W-would you l-like me to update your p-phone, too?”

“Sure, sounds good….how long will it take?”

“I-I’ll be done b-by tomorrow! W-well, a-afternoon, anyway.”

“Don’t worry y/n, I can drop you by after work.”

“Cool, we’ll see you then, Alphys.”

She gives you a happy wave goodbye, before she scurries away with your ‘new’ phone, and….well, you’re not sure it even counted as a phone any more, but the mess of wires that used to be your old one.

You feel Sans grab you (to your credit, you didn’t squeak – something you felt quite proud over), and you found yourself once more sat upon the couch in the brother’s house. What you didn’t expect was Papyrus, who was stood in the centre of the living room when you both popped into existence. He jumps slightly, before glaring at Sans, who merely shrugged in a very unapologetic manner.

“SANS! You were not at your post this afternoon! And -”

He stops suddenly, looking at Sans with a confused expression, which soon turned to soft happiness. Sans, who had clearly been awaiting some kind of pun opportunity, now looked confused, and perhaps a little concerned.

“Uh, bro…?”

“Oh!”

Papyrus suddenly snaps back to reality, still looking happy, but but covering it by forcing a stern expression.

“Ah yes, uh – don’t do it again. Anyway! We have the finest of spaghetti dinners to consume! Come, sister, brother, before it gets cold.”

He moves quickly to the kitchen, leaving confusion in his wake. You and Sans look at each other, expressions mirrored.

“Sans….what….”

“I have no idea.”

You look to the kitchen, before standing – after dinner, you were determined to get answers.

 

 

After all, the great Papyrus didn’t do something unless it was for a good reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooonder what Papyrus noticed? :p  
> Eh, hope this was all ok! Got the freakin' flu, aaand wanted to get a lil' more plot heavy....hopefully the two mixed? >.>
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	25. Popped Corn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we find out what Papyrus noticed....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

Before long, you’re all sat at the worn and familiar wood of the dining table; you breathe in the delicious, heady smell of Papyrus’ spaghetti with relish, before digging in. The day had been long, and even if it hadn’t been the most eventful, the pressure of tests had tired you out – you were happy to have the opportunity to wind down a little.

Well, only a little. Truthfully, you were also waiting for an opportunity to try to talk to Papyrus alone; he’d noticed something that he wasn’t letting on, and you’d already proven yourself to be someone who was led by their curiosity….for better or worse.

Sans had, once again, mysteriously inhaled his spaghetti with such speed you hadn’t even noticed him opening his mouth, while Papyrus preferred to follow your method of appreciating each bite; the only time you’d ever seen him eat at breakneck speed was the time Mettaton had visited. Sans would usually take this opportunity to sleep at the table (and consequently get yelled at by Papyrus), but he instead mysteriously raised his hand, politely coughing to gain attention. You look over at him quizzically, opening your mouth to ask him what the hell he was doing; before you realised Papyrus was already answering.

“Yes, brother?”

“Paps, may I please leave the table?”

Papyrus now looks just as confused as you; he’d obviously been expecting the sleeping at the table routine as well.

“….for...what, Sans?”

“Just a lil’ something I want to work on, y’know, in private.”

You raise your brow at him in silent question, only receiving a mysterious smug expression in return; you shrug to yourself, returning to your dinner.

“Alright, brother. But you must return in _precisely_ one hour for Mettaton! I believe tonight will be his grand unveiling!”

“Alright, bro. See ya later, y/n.”

“Have fun?”

He grins at you, before promptly vanishing out of existence. Papyrus crosses his arms, letting out an irritated huffing noise.

“Really, now! Has he forgotten how to walk? He has perfectly good legs to travel on! But no, instead he uses his ‘shortcuts’ - so lazy.”

You chuckle, twirling spaghetti around your fork absent-mindedly before taking a bite.

“Sure, but it’s still pretty cool to just ‘poof’ in and out of places like that….how did he even learn how to do it?”

Papyrus hums to himself, eating a mouthful of pasta, and swallowing before continuing.

“I’m not precisely sure….I believe our...”

He suddenly turns a little quiet, poking at his spaghetti – you almost felt your heart break as you realised that his expression was sad.

“...our father...”

“Papyrus, it’s fine – I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up; you don’t have to talk about it.”

Papyrus merely sighs, reaching out and patting your hand, making you jolt a little in surprise, before you grumble gently to yourself; you were the one who was supposed to be comforting him, not the other way around.

“Sister, it’s quite alright. My father was a brilliant man – I do not remember him very well, not like Sans does…..but that’s ok! From what I do remember, he was wonderful, and that’s all that matters!”

He seems to be reassuring himself over something; you didn’t quite understand what that was, as this was the most either brother had really mentioned about their absent father – but either way, you wanted to understand, and to help, even a little.

“I’m sure that he was, Papyrus – I mean, if he raised such lovely sons, how could he not be?”

Papyrus blushes a little at this, coughing as he finishes up his dinner.

“T-thank you, sister, that’s very kind. But yes, he was a very smart man. And I believe that he and Sans discovered these ‘shortcuts’ together – but as I was too young to perfect them, I instead perfected less lazy techniques!”

He laughed defiantly, picking up the empty bowls upon the table (including your own, as you’d more or less finished right after him), and walking into the kitchen – you followed along, tripping slightly as you got up, but quickly recovering before it was noticed.

He plopped all the bowls and cutlery into the sink, starting to wash them; you offer to dry up, which Papyrus accepts happily – you both work in peaceful silence for a while, with the sound of sloshing soap and water as company. After existing for a few minutes in the strangely serene atmosphere, it occurs to you that this is the perfect moment to quiz Papyrus over his earlier actions.

“Papyrus…?”

“Yes, sister?”

You bite your lip a little in thought, before deciding to come straight out with it.

“In the living room – uh, you know when you were about to tell Sans off? I…..I saw that you noticed something. I just wanted to know what that was?”

Papyrus stills his actions in the sink; since he has his back to you, you can’t see his expression, but you see that his shoulders fall a little as he lets out a heavy breath.

“….well, you see….I’m sure you’ve noticed, y/n, that my brother isn’t always the….happiest. And due to this…. _unhappiness_ ….he does not always take care of himself. His sleep, his eating….actions such as those often fall short.”

You feel yourself freeze up; not only at the revelation that Papyrus had noticed Sans’ depression, but also at the fact that he’d said your name for the first time.

“But today, I….he looked like a new skeleton!”

Papyrus turned to you, his expression joyful; and you notice in vague surprise that he has tears of happiness in his eyes.

“I don’t know what happened, and I don’t care – he had….an _energy_ about him, and I’ve not seen that for a long time. So, whatever happened...”

Papyrus suddenly knelt down to your level, before giving you a gentle hug.

“...thank you, y/n.”

“Oh….I’m….not sure that it was me….heh. But I’m glad that you’re happy, Papyrus.”

Papyrus pulls away slightly, looking at you quizzically.

“...yes, I don’t suppose that you would have noticed….I mean, before you arrived, you wouldn’t have known him. But believe me, y/n, since you fell to the Underground, my brother has been much happier.”

You feel yourself blushing heavily, so you cover your face while Papyrus continues.

“In fact, I would say that you’ve been keeping him _grounded.”_

You gasp, unsure how many more revelations you could take this evening.

“Papyrus…..did you just make a pun?!”

He hurriedly makes a shushing sound, looking around the two of you to make sure Sans wasn’t nearby, before laughing quietly.

“I _knew_ it! I _knew_ you liked puns!”

He again shushed you, looking a little more desperate, so you decided to shut up, even if you couldn’t hide the massive grin on your face.

“But yes, y/n….please, continue being our friend. You have no idea how wonderful it really is.”

You twiddle your thumbs, feeling awkward, but happy.

“Thank you….I mean, I don’t even have to think about being friends with everyone – if anyone is lucky here, it’s me.”

He gives you an award winning, Papyrus brand smile, patted you on the head, and started to stand – before jumping in surprise, looking directly behind you, then holding his chest with an irritated expression.

“Sans! You almost scared the soul out of me! How long have you -”

“I just got here, bro.”

You feel Sans poke your cheek, which you wince at, rubbing at your sore face with a grumble. Papyrus still seems to be eyeing Sans, appearing to be calculating something, before he suddenly starts to laugh, and turns back to finish the washing up without a word.

“...uh, Paps?”

“Yes, brother?”

“Have you been dipping into my helium supply, or somethin’?”

Papyrus flicks dishwater with startling accuracy over your shoulder and into Sans’ face; well, you assume it was his face, given the amount of spluttering.

“Go sit down, brother – you too, y/n! I shall pop some corn, so we’re ready for the grand Mettaton reveal!”

He turns back to his dishwashing with a decisive ‘nyeh heh heh’, leaving you and Sans to follow as ordered and sit with a confused air upon the couch.

“Man, Pap is actin’ weird tonight….”

“Did you notice that he’s started to call me by my name, as well as ‘sister’?”

Sans nods dumbly, reaching over you to grab the remote and switch on the TV to the appropriate channel (which was currently Mettaton brand MTT adverts on repeat). You sigh, ignoring the mysteries of tonight for the moment, allowing yourself to sink into the couch with a heaving breath, and shutting your eyes. Your relaxation was quickly interrupted with a harsh poke to your ribs, which made you shriek, your arms and legs jerking in reflex; you glare over at the perpetrator, who was finding it more than a little difficult not to fall from the couch with laughter.

“Oh stars…...pfft….y/n, I didn’t know that you were that ticklish.”

“Well, now you do.”

“I was just getting revenge! Don’t look at me like that.”

You let out a mock growl, which doesn’t help Sans’ hysterical laughter; he covers his face, giggling like a maniac.

“Oh….heh….my god, y/n – you’ve got to stop with that, it’s just too funny.”

You growl again, making a clawing motion with your hands, and mimicking a snarl on your face; you receive a couch pillow to the face in return, while Sans gasps with laughter. Pushing the pillow aside, you stick your tongue out at him, laughing, though not quite as hysterically as Sans.

“Does it sound that silly?”

“Yup. I mean, it’s supposed to be somewhat threatening, not c-”

He stops himself, coughing slightly.

“Not, uh, non-threatening.”

“...what were you going to say?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

You narrow your eyes at him, while he visibly sweats in his seat. But before you can start your interrogations, Papyrus waltzes into the room, popcorn in hand. Before you can blink, the bowl is thrust into your hands.

“Sister, hold this.”

Then Papyrus is squishing onto the couch next to you, so you’re thoroughly stuck in the middle; Sans huffs in surprise at being moved forcefully along the couch.

“Paps, what the hell.”

“Oh, I’m _so_ sorry, brother, but this seemed the best seat for viewing Mettaton in all his glory.”

Sans blinks in a confused state at his brother’s behaviour, before shrugging, and grabbing some popcorn from the bowl you’re holding.

You’re not particularly bothered at your position; you’d often end up squashed between the brothers when it came to sitting upon the couch, though it did seem that Papyrus was taking up a little more room than necessary, for some odd reason. You mindlessly shrug, shifting yourself comfortably into your new cushion, and grabbing a handful of popcorn yourself; Papyrus really was an incredible cook, even the popcorn he made was better than any you’d ever tasted. You made a mental note to get him and Toriel together for a cooking session; you’re more than sure that both parties would enjoy it.

Suddenly Papyrus bounces in his seat with an excited squeak, as the adverts flow into the irritating, eccentric, loud….and admittedly catchy opening theme of Mettaton’s two hourly section. Though you’re a little confused as to why it’s not an immediate dramatic reveal of his new form; instead it opens with his usual ‘cooking with a fabulous robot’ show – you wince slightly at the expected shower of glitter, before turning to Papyrus.

“Is he not supposed to be...uh...showing off his new legs?”

Papyrus blushes heavily at the memory, coughing slightly.

“Yes, well, sister, I believe he’ll be revealing himself at the very end section – after all, it is far more dramatic!”

His face lights up with anticipation, his attentions once again being stolen by the extravagant calculator, who was currently whipping up some eggs for his ‘fabulous’ cake – though you were pretty sure it was just a normal Victoria sponge with a metric fuck ton of glitter.

Sans’ eye-lights were already straying from the screen, looking longingly at the pile of books next to Papyrus; when he caught you staring, he shrugged sheepishly, and you had to hide your giggle under your breath. Nudging him slightly with your arm, you gesture to the screen.

“That can’t be healthy, right? I mean, humans can’t eat glitter, not unless it’s made for cooking with, but….that’s….it can’t be good for monsters either, right?”

“Nah, it’s not great – as it’s, you know, craft glitter, and not edible in the least. But since everyone knows that, Mettaton can have as much fun as he wants….”

Sans grumbles slightly under his breath, while Papyrus once again turns to you, plain interest upon his face.

“Sister, there’s such a thing as edible glitter?”

“Yeah – for, uh, cakes, and things. I mean, I’ve never used it, but it’s there.”

Papyrus hums ponderously to himself, before looking back at the screen. Sighing to yourself, you turn back to Sans, trying to save yourself at least a little from the torture of watching – even though you now knew the star in person, and understood him a little better, that didn’t mean you liked his show any more than you did previously. Your eyes plead with him to save you, and he has to muffle his laughter, before his face switches between the emotions of thought, then sudden curiosity. He reaches into his pocket, surreptitiously taking out his phone, before tapping out a message, and angling it so you can read the screen.

 

_So, was thinking – I know that our hands feel pretty similar, but they look different, right? How about we -_

 

He suddenly grumbles to himself, shaking his head, and muttering the word ‘stupid’, before starting to delete the message; panicking slightly, not wanting him to think badly of himself or his suggestion, you plop you hand down upon his knee, making him start slightly. You motion with your head encouragingly, looking down at your hand, then back to him, still keeping yourself silent for Papyrus’ benefit. Sans’ eye-lights brighten, before he gently picks up your hand, and starts to examine it; he carefully bends each finger, poking and pulling at the skin, before turning your hand over to trace the indents of your palm – you twitch slightly at the ticklish feeling, and he casts you a silent apology. He traces them a little softer, making the motion smoother to avoid tickling you, his expression curious and thoughtful; before his eye-lights widen a little more, as you see him poke at the veins in your wrist – he quickly turns your hand over again, only to see even more veins, and you have to stifle your laughter at his obvious confusion. You gesture silently to his phone; he opens up a blank message, his eye-lights still wide with the excitement of something new.

 

 _The blue things are called ‘veins’ - v_ _eins are blood vessels that carry blood toward the heart. Most veins carry_ _de-oxygenated_ _blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated blood to the heart. In contrast to veins, arteries carry blood away from the heart…_ _arteries are like veins, but bigger –_ _you can see and feel them pretty clearly in my neck_ _. There are two types of_ _arteries_ _in the body:_ _p_ _ulmonary and systemic. The pulmonary_ _artery_ _carries_ _de-oxygenated_ _blood from the heart, to the lungs, for purification while the systemic_ _arteries_ _form a network of_ _arteries_ _that carry oxygenated blood from the heart to other parts of the body._

 

Sans reads your small paragraph eagerly, turning his head to the side in interest, before typing out his own message.

 

_That’s pretty cool. So, it’s basically like how magic travels throughout a monster’s body?_

 

_I don’t know about that, but maybe? I mean, the scan thing that we did today…does it kind of look like that? If it does, then...yes?_

 

His face lights up, and you grin, also pleased with this new revelation; humans and monsters really weren’t all that different, in the grand scheme of things – though you may have been a little biased in thinking that monsters were much better.

Your thoughts are disrupted as a hand is placed into your lap, making you squeak gently, though Papyrus doesn’t seem to notice, his eyes glued to Mettaton as he interviews a cat monster who looked apathetic with the whole situation; Sans mimics your previous action, gesturing at his hand with an encouraging expression. You pick it up hesitantly, looking at him for slight confirmation, before examining it closer. All in all, it felt like any other hand; if you closed your eyes, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between his hand or your own. It didn’t really look anything like a normal human skeleton hand, though – it didn’t possess any sharpness whatsoever. If anything, it looked more like someone who had painted their hand in the likeness of a skeleton’s – except that Sans’ did in fact contain the necessary slight gaps between each of the phalanges and metacarpals. However, all gaps ended at the palm of his hand, which was one solid expanse of white, only breaking out to a gap again at his ulna and radius. You poke curiously at one of the gaps in his fingers, only for him to shudder delicately; you wince, looking at him with silent apologies, which he shrugs at, still smiling at you encouragingly, so you go back to your study. You gently press his palm, as he had with yours, feeling the ‘squish’ of the invisible flesh his magic was creating under your finger tips – no matter where you touched, it was always present, always leaving a faint tingling sensation behind upon your skin. Bringing the surface of his hand closer to your face, you notice that he didn’t have that dulled white that human bones seemed to possess; in fact, he almost shimmered – a little like the surface of a pearl or shell. You absent-mindedly hum at the simple beauty of it, and Sans chuckles softly at your examinations; though you can tell by his tone he’s probably blushing at how forward your actions are. You sigh, satisfied with your examination, and pass his hand back to him; he grins, gesturing back to the screen, indicating that it was the last segment of Mettaton’s show.

Mettaton stands in the centre of a his interview stage, which contained bejewelled, elegant sofas….which were, of course, covered in glitter. He gestures with a grace only a box robot with extendable arms could have.

“Now darlings, we have reached a very special segment in our show – yes indeed! I will need a participant from the lovely audience!”

Hands are raised, waving madly, the monsters in the audience crying out with happiness at such a chance; before Mettaton finally makes a selection – to your surprise, it was the nice cream salesman you had met so long ago.

“Oh my god, I know that guy! It’s Roy!”

“Ah, yes, sister – his nice creams are truly a delightful frozen treat! Have you had any yet?”

“I did buy some….but they’re still stored in my phone, hehe...”

“Welp, they’re safe in there, so don’t worry ‘bout it; we can break them out at some point, bud.”

You all turn your attentions back to the screen as Roy walks up onto the stage, waving at the cheering audience shyly, while Mettaton is still posed dramatically in the centre.

“Now, what is your name, darling?”

“Oh, it’s, uh, Roy.”

“Roy! A perfect name for a perfect fan!”

Roy blushes, clearly feeling a little uncomfortable with Mettaton’s flirtatious manner; you could sympathize totally.

“Now, onto business – I’m going to turn around Roy, and you will see a switch upon my back; would you be a dear and press it for me?”

Roy nods uncertainly, while Mettaton turns with a flourish and a shower of glitter that leaves the poor salesman spluttering a little, but he manages to press the switch anyway.

All of a sudden, the lights are turned off, leaving some of the audience to scream a little in surprise; then all is silent as Mettaton’s laughter echoes across the stage.

“ _Ooh, yes_.”

You face palm at his cringy line, seeing Sans doing the same, while Papyrus gasps in excitement.

A dramatic, deep version of his usual theme tune echoes across the stage, while smoke filters from the dark stage – then, spotlights are slowly turned on upon centre stage, before the entire thing alights; leaving the audience to gasp at Mettaton’s new look, in all its leggy glory.

“Yes, it is me, darlings, in the metallic flesh! How do you like my new look?”

The audience screams and cheers, while Mettaton bows in an exaggerated manner, before lifting a leg so high it almost reached ear level – then promptly falling into the splits.

“Oh my! Look at those ratings! My dear audience, that’s the highest we’ve ever had!”

Everyone cheers, and you even find yourself smiling a little at Mettaton’s obvious and genuine joy at his reception – it was much better than the fake drama he always portrayed. Still in his splits position, he turns to Roy, who had more or less frozen with shock at the situation.

“Everyone, thank the marvellous Roy for his help!”

The audience cheers Roy off the stage, as he stiffly walks back to his seat.

“Now, I believe we have some callers on the line – let’s have caller number one! What’s your name, darling?”

“It’s MK!”

You giggle, recognising the monster child you’d met on your first Snowdin outing.

“Mettaton, your new look is so cool! You look like the super heroes in the comics I read.”

Sans snorts, rolling his eye-lights; you elbow his side, shushing him.

“Why, thank you, dear MK! Ok, next caller, please!”

“Hi Mettaton, my name is Glyde – I really like your new look, it’s almost as good as mine.”

“Oh well, uh, _thank you_ , dear.”

Mettaton hides his wince extremely well, covering it with a professional camera grin – even if you mentally note one of his eyes twitching a little.

“Aaaand the last caller of the night, please!”

“....oh.......hi...Mettaton...I really like watching your show, and your new look….my life is pretty boring, but….seeing you on the screen….brings excitement to my life…..I didn't mean to talk so long…..oh.....I’m sorry…..”

“No, wait, Blooky -!….Oh, he hung up.”

You gasp a little, sitting up poker-straight in your seat, while Sans looks at you questioningly. Mettaton soon recovers, clearing away his slightly pained expression to replace it with his MTT brand smile.

“Well, audience, you darlings have been wonderful this evening. I do hope you’ve enjoyed our faaaaabulous show! Goodnight!”

The audience cheers, and the screen fades back into adverts for MTT products.

“...what’s wrong, y/n?”

Papyrus is also now looking at you worriedly, as Sans questions you softly. You clench your fist in anger, still looking at the screen.

“...it’s him Sans, I never even realised. I have this friend back in the Ruins, called Napstablook. He was always so sad that his cousin had left him all alone, though he never said so, of course, he was too nice – _he was the last caller_. It’s too much of a coincidence, after Mettaton reacted like that.”

Papyrus frowns a little, humming to himself.

“Sister, I’m sure that there’s an explanation. Surely Mettaton would have a reason for such a thing…? If he is in fact this Napstablook’s cousin.”

Sans stays quiet – you know what he’s thinking about the whole situation, and judging by the angry twitching of one of his eye sockets, it’s something along the same lines as yourself. But, for Papyrus’ benefit, you turn to him, forcing a smile.

“Yes, Papyrus, I’m sure that’s true….still, it was a great reveal, right?”

Papyrus instantly cheers up, launching into excited speech over the show, while you keep your forced smile in place. Before long, Papyrus heads up to his bedroom, calling out happy ‘good night’s to you and Sans, which you both return, before turning to each other.

“It’s not right.”

“I know y/n….I know.”

“….I’m going to talk to him, you know.”

Sans sighs, before giving you an amused look.

“I’ll be more than happy to give you back up – that bucket of bolts has it coming.”

You laugh, knowing that he’d probably been looking for an excuse to give Mettaton a piece of his mind anyway; but you appreciated his support, regardless.

“Thanks. Right….time for bed, anyway.”

You stand, stretching a little, but still remaining conscious of not doing it the point of cracking; not until you were alone, anyway. You start to turn to the bathroom, before turning back with a sudden thought. Sans raises his brow bones in question at your actions, still sprawled out lazily on the couch.

“Oh, um, if you have any bad dreams, any at all…..don’t hesitate in waking me up, ok?”

He blushes a little, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward laugh.

“Uh, sure, y/n…..thank you. I appreciate it.”

You smile, turning on your heel and heading off for your nightly routine – before long, you were snuggled up in your bed, plotting out what you’d be saying to the Underground star.

 

You only hoped his excuse was something viable – otherwise, he was going to have a _bad time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yuuuup, classic line drop. *fite meh*  >:D
> 
> I'm so sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to switch over to uploading one chapter per week at the moment T-T I'm moving house and stuff at the moment (which as some of you know, is an utter bitch), so I'm doing this to keep some pressure off....buuut, don't worry, I'll always upload on Tuesday! *determination* >:)
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	26. Sock Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are wars....with socks....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You appear briefly in the Void, and have a pleasant conversation with Gaster; it had been a while since you’d been able to have one with him, given the recent drama. It was just to simply chat about light, meaningless things – like how he thought that Mettaton’s new physique, while being more practical, was far too ostentatious for his liking.

But such pleasant things could never last, at least not while you were sleeping. Soon, you were thrown into a spiral of terrible nightmares, scenario after scenario playing out around you; your life at the orphanage, so vivid you could feel every terrible moment. One where you’d not been able to escape your former boss, as the door refused to open….where you were left at his mercy. But perhaps the worst was where you’d _never_ fallen to the Underground, where you’d been dragged off the mountain by your hair, and strung up in the centre of town for all to see – where vicious hands grabbed at you, tearing at your flesh, your face, your clothes….but try as you might, you could not escape.

It’s then, and only then, that you feel the hands upon you are real, and not vicious; only gently shaking your shoulders, as a familiar voice comes to you.

“Y/n? C’mon, bud, wake up.”

You jolt to consciousness, Sans jumping in response to your sudden movement, his eye flaring blue for a split second before he almost immediately calms down. You yourself take out a little time to also calm, slowing down your breathing to a normal level, sitting up, and looking solidly at Sans in an effort to keep the horrific images from your mind. He stares back, rubbing the centre of his chest with a slightly discomforted expression, but smiling at you all the same in an effort to help you calm down.

“You ok?”

“...yeah, I think so. Just bad dreams.”

He looks down at the floor in thought for a split second, before looking back at you meekly, as he repeats exactly what you’d said the night before.

“...wanna talk about it?”

You hum tiredly, before sighing in resignation; it probably would be better to talk about it, to normalise the images inside your head. You pat hurriedly on the empty space on your bed, moving aside; while he looks a little surprised, he complies with your silent demands, sitting next to you as you nestle into your nest of pillows.

“...wanna go downstairs?”

“...nah. I’m too tired. Do you mind if we just stay here?”

“You don’t wanna get out of the room?”

“I think I’m ok – just having another person here’s enough, you know?”

He smiles warmly at you, inclining his head slightly in agreement at your words, before shifting to get a little more comfortable in the mess of pillows. You huff, chucking a cover over him, making him jump slightly in surprise. You throw him an innocent, albeit apologetic, look.

“What? It’s cold, I’m being considerate.”

“You could’ve warned me first bud, heh.”

“Why?….you seem really jumpy.”

He frowns a little, his brow puckering.

“I was just worried about you, that’s all.”

“I’m ok. Just….yeah.”

“What did you dream about?”

You huff out a sigh, turning on your side to face him.

“Lots of different things, horrible things. Like….like memories I’d rather not have. And….and I dreamt that I’d never fallen down here. That the people of Ebott had found me, and, uh….started to torture me, I guess. Then you woke me up, so….thank you.”

Sans shuddered delicately at the images your words conveyed, looking at you sympathetically, before humming with thought.

“Does….being down here with us mean that much to you?”

“Like I _keep_ saying, I’ve honestly never been happier.”

He frowns a little more, huffing out a heavy breath.

“I’m sorry life was like that for you – but…..I’m happy that you’re happy.”

He blushes lightly, looking away, but you chuckle, appreciating the sentiment.

“Why are you up, anyway? Did I wake you?”

“….not really. Ok, a little, but not in a bad way – so don’t worry about it.”

You’re not quite sure what that meant, as you were too tired to comprehend it; you yawn, your eye lids fluttering shut – you couldn’t fight the pull of sleep, even if you tried. Something about Sans’ presence just seemed to put you at ease.

You hear Sans sigh, and feel him start to move out of the bed – before you unconsciously grab his hand, and hear him draw in a slight gasp; you let go gently, having succeeded in stopping his movement.

“Stay. Please. I don’t really want to be alone at the moment…..I’m sorry.”

“...don’t be. And I….don’t mind.”

You feel him settle once again next to you, and you allow yourself to relax into peaceful sleep, free from the nightmares that once plagued you.

 

~

 

Upon waking up the next day, you feel a twinge of guilt; and feel it even more so when you open your eyes to see Sans next to you, fast asleep. The guilt slips away, however, when you notice how peaceful he is; compared to the last time you’d seen him ‘asleep’, with his thrashing nightmares. It was nice to know that you could help him as much as he’d helped you.

Turning over gently in an effort not to wake him, you reach for your phone – before realising that it was still with Alphys, which results in you mentally kicking yourself. Sighing in a ruffled tone, you slip out of the warm bed, deciding to leave Sans asleep until you knew the actual time – it was better for him to get as much as possible, given the usual poor quality of the sleep he seemed to have.

You creep down the stairs, and down to the kitchen, looking at the clock stationed above the stove; it was 8:30 am, a good 30 minutes before Sans usually got up to go to work, which would give you more than enough time to get ready.

You see a note sprawled on the counter, next to a giant bowl of spaghetti; you chuckle to yourself, as only one person would think of spaghetti as a reasonable breakfast.

 

_Sister and brother! It is I, the great Papyrus! I have made for you the finest of breakfast spaghettis to brighten the start of your day._

_Sans, you had better be at your work station, or I will be banning ketchup for a week._

 

_From Papyrus_

 

You giggle a little to yourself, before running about to finish up with your daily washing routine; Sans would never forgive you if you knew about said ketchup banning but didn’t wake him up.

Having finished up in the bathroom, you quickly whip your hair up into a towel, and head back up the stairs, opening your door softly – only to blink in surprise at seeing Sans sitting up, looking slightly panicked; but his expression immediately softens upon seeing you.

“Uh, good morning – are you ok?”

“Yeah, uh….gonna sound really stupid…..”

“What?”

Sans visibly swallowed, moving to the side of the bed in order to get out of it. You take your hair out from the towel, hanging up the wet material to dry.

“I, uh….panicked ‘cause I woke up, and you were missing? Stars, that sounds even lamer out of my head than in it.”

You chuckle softly, hiding a growing blush by moving to your chest of drawers, rummaging for your jeans, as you were staying in Snowdin for most of the day; then sighing irritatedly as your realised that you’d have to put on dirty jeans.

“...I’m sorry.”

You look around quickly to Sans, realising with in a panic that you’d yet to answer him.

“Oh no! _No no no_ , I’m not annoyed because of that – if anything, it’s quite….endearing. No, I’m annoyed because of this -”

You once again attempt to cover up any potential embarrassment at your words by holding up your filthy jeans, which Sans peers at uncertainly, blushing a little himself at your earlier words.

“...uh, jeans?”

“Yes! I forgot to wash them, so I’m mentally kicking myself.”

Sans face palms, his laughter muffled by his open hand – you throw a pair of socks at him in retaliation, smacking him square in the face; which quite impresses you, given how clumsy you are, but doesn’t seem to impress him much. He holds up the offensive pair, raising a brow bone at you, before opening his mouth – only for you to cut him off.

“Nope! I already said ‘ _socked it to me_ ’ the other night, you can’t have that one.”

He shuts his mouth with a snap, thinking on it, before grinning manically.

“Well, we do think alike – and you know what they say…..birds of a feather _sock_ together.”

You burst into stupid giggles, chucking another pair at him, which he skilfully avoids.

“That was terrible! Any more like that, and you’ll be a laughing- _sock_!”

He throws a pair back, making you squeak as they hit you right between the eyes.

“Hey, stop throwing those at me when you have such an arsenal; you’ve got me caught between a _sock_ and a hard place.”

“Well then, I guess it’s lock, _sock_ and barrel!”

The room soon erupts into a pun and sock war, and before long, your entire sock collection (which admittedly, wasn’t too many) littered your bedroom floor. Sans looks more than a little pleased at this.

“Heh, now your room looks like mine.”

“Mine smells better.”

He puts a hand to his chest, gasping with an offended expression.

“Also, unlike you, I’ll be picking up my socks and putting them back.”

Sans grins at this, before his eye flares that sudden glaring blue, and the socks surrounding you are suspiciously glowing.

“Sans, you wouldn’t _dare_ -”

All of a sudden, the entirety of the floor socks all fly at you at once, effectively burying your person – you hear a chortle coming from Sans’ room, showing he’d teleported to relative safety. Picking the socks off yourself and stuffing them back into the drawer, you yell at the general direction of his room.

“Come out and fight me like a man, you coward!”

You only get a muffled yell in reply.

“Don’t you mean come out and fight you like a _skeleton_?”

You growl in mock frustration, which only made him laugh more.

Ignoring his laughter for the moment, you tug on your grubby jeans, and a long sleeved sweater, as you didn’t want a repeat of the last time you were sat at the station for too long; you knew it would feel a little bulky under your coat, but you didn’t mind sacrificing a little motion if it meant you’d be warmer.

You proceed to exit your room, knocking politely at Sans’ door.

“Who is it?”

Sighing a little under your breath, you try to think of a good one, before smiling to yourself.

“Skeleton.”

“…..skeleton who?”

“I’m going to throw a _skele-ton_ of socks on you unless you come out of there and eat your breakfast spaghetti.”

Sans whines a little as he exits his room.

“Breakfast spaghetti….”

“Yup. All thanks go to the chef Papyrus.”

“I’ve been spoilt with you making us breakfast, heh.”

“That you have. But hey, cold spaghetti isn’t a bad thing.”

“You heat it up first, you philistine.”

“Pfft, who has time for that….after all.”

You lean forward a little, while Sans watches you warily.

“….after all, we don’t have time to waste.”

“….and why is that?”

“Oh, Papyrus _might_ have mentioned something about banning ketchup for a week in a note downstairs….”

Sans’ eyes widen, before he blips out of existence, and you hear a shout of ‘fuck’ from the kitchen soon after. You let out an evil laugh, leisurely making your way down the stairs, before taking a seat at the dining table, giggling as you listened to him dashing around the kitchen.

“Oh my, revenge is sweet.”

“Not as sweet as cold breakfast spaghetti – _eat up_.”

You giggle as he slaps a bowl in front of you, inhaling his own with an inhuman speed. You too, ate yours as fast as you could muster, as you didn’t want to take your revenge quite that far. After thoroughly stuffing yourself, you grab your boots and socks, tugging them on and deftly wiggling your toes to get them comfy, before snuggling into your coat, and shoving your hands into your borrowed gloves; you internally sigh, mentally accepting the fact that you will probably never have the chance to wear your favourite skeleton gloves again.

Sans grabs you by the waist deftly, before blipping next to his station, which he walks into casually, before sitting down with a satisfied huff, now that he knew his precious ketchup wasn’t in jeopardy. You follow suite, plonking yourself down and wriggling your body to create some friction – and hopefully heat.

“You really feel the cold, huh?”

“Yeah….always have done. Not that I don’t like snow, though – especially the fresh stuff, I love that. Though, come to think of it, the snow here is somehow….more pleasant than up on the surface. Softer, more….fluffy?”

“Fluffy, huh? Well, that’s good to know. Still, we should think about getting you some more clothes, so you’re warmer.”

“Hmm, not sure I have enough gold….well, I mean, I do have a good 500g, I think, but….”

“Should be enough; we’d only being going to the local shop in Snowdin. I mean, there are shops in the Capital, but -”

“The what now?”

You sit straighter in your seat with interest, while Sans smiles with ease – he really seemed to find some kind of happiness in your almost constant curiosity.

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you’ve not seen much of the Underground….well, there’s, uh, a few ‘sections’, so to speak. We have the Ruins, which aren’t really accessible to most, Snowdin, Hotland….and the places you’ve yet to see. The Core, the Capital – which has the king’s castle in, by the way…..and Waterfall.”

“What are they like?”

“The Core is where we gather that thermodynamic energy I spoke to you about – more or less an ocean of magma there, so that’s kinda what makes Hotland so ‘hot’. The Capital is just a big city, very different from Snowdin; chaotic, not my kinda scene. And Waterfall….well. I want you to _see_ it, really – it’s not something I could give justice to with just a description.”

“….does it have….waterfalls?”

“….yup. Told ya, the king is really great at naming places.”

You giggle, then huff out a long sigh, watching the fog drift upward. Sans mimics your actions, grinning cheekily when you throw him a glance.

“So….uh, instead of having our four hour book reading session, do you mind if we go to the Snowdin store instead?”

“Sure bud, no problem. Oh, was gonna ask – did you wanna go see Toriel?”

You immediately start nodding, which he chuckles at.

“M’kay then. Let’s go.”

“Waaaait, when will Paps be here?”

“We’ve got a good hour until he’ll pop up, don’t worry ‘bout it.”

He grabs you around the waist without another word, and you appear at the Ruin’s entrance. Uncertainly, you knock at the doors, hearing the echo on the other side. You wait for a spell, about to knock again, when you hear slightly muffled hurried footsteps.

“...who’s there?”

“Goat.”

Sans stifles a laugh, and you narrow your eyes at him.

“Goat who?”

“You’ve goat to let me in, it’s freezing out here.”

The doors open, and you’re instantly caught up in her familiar, warm hug.

“Hello, my child.”

“Am I seriously going to have to think up a knock-knock joke every time I come here?”

Sans shrugs, while Toriel laughs in your ear, still hugging you.

“It’s customary, bud. Tradition.”

You roll your eyes at him, still buried in Toriel’s shoulder, while he grins back smugly. Toriel eventually draws back from the hug, smoothing her dress gently.

“It’s wonderful to see you both. Please, do come in.”

You both follow her as she makes her way back inside, the stone doors groaning to a close behind you. As you walk, a sudden thought occurs to you.

“Uh, Sans?”

“’sup?”

“Why didn’t you just teleport us into Toriel’s house?”

He opens his mouth to answer, before shutting it, and frowning, as he realised you had a point – Toriel meanwhile chuckled, climbing the stairs that led into her home; you take off your coat and gloves, sighing happily at the blessed heat.

“Please, do sit down. I just made some Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie – I’ll go fetch it.”

As she walks with her usual grace to the kitchen, you and Sans sit, while he looks at you with a confused expression.

“Uh…. _Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie_?”

“Yup. Just wait – it’s amazing.”

He shrugs, giving you the benefit of the doubt, while Toriel glides back in, plates in hand; she hands them out, one for each of you, before sitting down herself. While you more or less dive straight in (you hadn’t had your fix of pie for quite a while, after all – it was almost as painful as being deprived of your delicious spider donuts), Sans is a little more hesitant, examining it from all angles before taking a bite; you giggle to yourself as his face almost immediately lights up.

“Whoa….this is amazing.”

“Why, thank you, Sans, that’s very kind.”

He dips his head, looking a little sheepish.

“Thanks, Toriel.”

“It’s no problem at all – having a meal with others is, after all, one of the great joys of life.”

Sans hums in agreement, taking in a larger, and far more eager, bite of pie.

“Hey, I was thinking – you know Sans’ brother, Papyrus? Well, he really loves to cook, so would you perhaps like to have some sort of cooking session with him, sometime?”

“….well, I don’t see why not, my child – and it would be lovely to meet more of your friends, especially if they have a love of cooking.”

Toriel smiles brightly at your suggestion – meanwhile, Sans is sighing in a satisfied manner, his pie slice completely demolished.

“We’ll have to arrange it sometime….don’t you think so, Sans?”

“What now?”

“…..have you been driven into a food coma by the deliciousness? I was saying that we should get Papyrus and Toriel together for a cooking session.”

“Eh, sorry…..but yeah, that sounds like a great idea, actually.”

Sans blushes a little, looking at his empty plate regretfully; you draw in a heavy sigh, before sliding your half eaten slice across to him, which he tries to reject, making you all the more insistent.

“Hey, hey, no, that’s yours.”

“It is indeed; but I want to give it to you.”

“But….it’s _yours_!”

“I’ve had the pleasure of eating this pie more than once in the past months, it’s only fair that I give you the chance to catch up!”

With that, you skilfully dodge past his argumentative hands, forcefully shoving the slice upon his plate, and making a satisfied noise at your victory. Sans looks torn; clearly wanting to eat it, but not wanting to inconvenience you in any way. Toriel, meanwhile, chuckles to herself, covering her mouth delicately with a soft paw.

“Oh my. Sans, you probably know by now that y/n is quite persistent – it would probably be better to accept!”

Sans sighs in defeat, mumbling a quick thanks to you, devouring the pie as quickly as he could to avoid more potential embarrassment. Toriel giggles once again, before removing all of the plates, and gracefully walking back to the kitchen; you ask her if she needs help, but, as always, she insists that you sit and enjoy yourself. So it’s in this state of relaxation (Sans is happily watching the fire leap and crackle at this point, with a contented expression), that a thought suddenly occurs to you.

“Hey, Tori, how are the others who live in the Ruins? You know, the Froggits, and Napstablook, and -”

“They’re all fine and well, y/n, do not fret. Though they do miss your company – you should visit them at some point, if you can.”

You nod at this, feeling a little melancholy; they were your first friends when you came to the Underground, and you felt you’d been not a very good friend at all as of late, having not seen them for so long.

“About Napstablook…..where was it that he said he lived?”

“Waterfall, I believe, my child; why do you ask?”

“….oh, it’s just something….I may or may not have found his cousin, so….”

You hear Toriel sigh from within the kitchen – she slowly makes her way back into the living room, wiping the remains of soap suds from her paws with deft motions.

“I see. Well, that is quite the dilemma. How do you plan to deal with it?”

“….I’ll try to talk to the cousin, and see what’s going on, if they have a good reason for not seeing him for so long, you know? And I plan to tell them _exactly_ how sad all of this has made Napstablook….I don’t know….I just...”

You sigh angrily, pinching the bridge of your nose between your nails.

“….it is quite alright, my child. You will figure it all out in the end.”

You feel an all familiar poke to your cheek, and look up to see Sans giving you a comforting smile, his cheeks crinkling slightly with the kindness of his expression.

“She’s right, bud. It’ll all be ok.”

You give him a smile back, before standing with a slight stretch; then walking over to Toriel to give her a hug goodbye.

“It’s been nice seeing you again, my child; we shall have to arrange that cooking session!”

You chuckle softly into the fur of her shoulder, nodding. After a moment of simply holding each other, you break away, both you and Sans giving another farewell, before blipping away, and arriving back in the cold snow. You shudder, already missing the warm flames of Toriel’s living room; in your peripheral vision, you see Sans mimic the motion.

“….Are you actually cold for once?”

“Eh, I wouldn’t say that….just that the fire-place is….really toasty?”

He grins sheepishly, drawing his coat up around him a little more snugly; before he sighs, seeing your accusing look.

“Yup, ok, I’ll admit it; sure, I get cold. Just not as much as you.”

“And you’re better at hiding it.”

He winks at you lazily.

“That too.”

You start suddenly, as you notice in the distance there appeared to be some sort of cloud, approaching with an incredible rate.

“Uh…..”

Sans sighs, leaning back against the station, coat still drawn up around his frame.

“Paps.”

You yank up your hood, mentally and physically preparing yourself for the wave of snow that was no doubt going to hit you square in the face with Papyrus’ approach. And hit you it did, which you would have felt worse about if you weren’t too busy laughing at the fact that Sans had gotten a good face full of it too – he calmly wiped his dripping cheeks, clearly not wishing to give you the satisfaction of being able to laugh at anything else. Papyrus, as per usual, was completely oblivious to the small avalanche of snow his manic running had created; he stood as proud and happy as ever.

“Sister! Brother! Have you had a good day thus far?”

“Sure have, bro. Just been here _chilling.”_

Papyrus pulled an irritated expression, clearly about to give Sans a lecture on working properly (though he obviously had no idea what little work Sans actually did), before he groaned, holding his face in his hands.

“….that was a pun, wasn’t it?”

You bust into giggles while attempting to straighten your face in order to cover your amusement and failing miserably, which causes Sans to laugh in reaction; then attempt to follow your example of being serious and also failing miserably.

Papyrus merely sighs.

“I am going to continue my training. I shall see you both at home – but don’t think that I won’t notice you not working. _ICY_ EVERYTHING!”

With that, he runs full speed, only leaving a ‘nyeh heh heh’ in his wake. Sans wipes away mock tears, sniffing a little.

“I’m so proud. I have a feeling that our excessive puns are rubbing off on him.”

“Heh, I think your brother’s always been like that – but being the sneaky sneak that he is, he’s been hiding it so he can shock at moments like this.”

Sans snorts, waving his hand dismissively at your words; you push his side lightly in return, huffing out a breath.

“I mean it!”

“Hehe, I know, I know, jus’ like teasing ya. Anyways, when did you want to get to shopping?”

“Oh, joy of joys. Welp, as soon as we can, I guess – quicker we get this done, the quicker we can get to reading.”

“Heh, buddy….now you’re talkin’.”

Sans approaches suddenly, making you jump, before you look at him in disgust. But it’s a look that you throw to him in the Void as you travel – as usual, he’d caught you off guard. He chuckles in your ear, and before long, you’re stood on the outskirts of Snowdin; you jerk out of his grasp, intending to squidge his side, only for him to skilfully dodge out of the way at the last minute, lazy smile in place. You grumble, puffing out an irritated breath, before sticking out your tongue at him and approaching Snowdin….

 

….for the dreaded shopping trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hate clothes shopping - but I promise I won't make reader-chan suffer too much ;) *the same might not be said for Sans •̀.̫•́✧
> 
> Gah, forgot to mention this on my original publish - I'm so sorry >.< The lovely bluebearart did some fanart of reader-chan's soul :o *it's so pretty  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/172633084106/bluebearart-after-months-of-contemplation-i
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	27. The Cinnabunny Source

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we appreciate the (relatively) quiet moments....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You sink your feet into the fresh snow with gusto, waving and answering the greetings from the residents of Snowdin, Sans walking with his usual lazy nature at your side, a relaxed grin in place.

As you approach the Snowdin Shop, you notice a group of children giggling by the permanent Christmas tree, playing in the snow; it looked like all out war, snow forts and everything. You chuckled when you saw MK, the monster child you’d met before, playing with them; or rather, with his lack of arms, acting as a distraction for his team – he was shockingly skilled at dodging, you noted….even if he did face-plant into the snow on the odd occasion.

All in all, the town of Snowdin was a positive mixture of laughing children and cheerful adults going about their daily business; you smiled, quietly absorbing the positive atmosphere….at least you were, until you felt the all familiar poke to your cheek.

“Hey!”

“What?”

“You know, I’m going to start ignoring you when you do that. You could call my name, like a normal person?”

“Nah. No fun that way – I’ll just end up poking somewhere else.”

Sans grins evilly, whilst you mock glare at him.

“You’re such an ass!”

“Nah, I’m a skeleton – don’t have one.”

You bust into stupid laughter, Sans grinning with a self satisfied air. When you finally catch your breath, you go to poke him, only to have him avoid you.

“You _know_ that’s not what I meant!”

“You meant to insult me?”

“Yes!”

“Welp, consider me _not_ insulted.”

“Don’t make me growl at you!”

He puffs out a chuckle, covering his mouth slightly.

“Oh geez, anything but that. You’ll be the embarrassment of Snowdin if you do that in public.”

“...I wonder how Papyrus would react if I tried to growl in front of him…?”

You both stop dead in your tracks as you imagine this, before laughing so loudly two monsters nearby who were having their own private conversation jolt; you apologise, receiving amused disapproving looks and forgiveness in return.

“Heh, c’mon bud, let’s get going; we’ve got a mission, don’t forget.”

You grumble slightly, burrowing yourself a little deeper into your coat.

“Bleh, I’ve always hated shopping. But you’re right; can’t stay in the same jeans forever.”

“Yup. You’ll stink.”

You narrow your eyes at him, receiving an amused shrug in return. Sighing, you make your way over to the heavy door of the shop, grunting slightly under your breath with effort as you push it open; a bell above the door jingles comfortingly in reaction.

It was much larger on the inside than you’d have ever imagined just by looking at it – the front door opened up into a reasonably sized entrance, the left wall covered with shelves holding numerous useful items; anything from medicine you recognised from the surface, to cans of food, to cute knick-knacks. Directly at the back of the store was a counter, with a back room that seemingly held more supplies – and at the right was another section, completely devoted to clothing.

Behind the counter was the owner, who looked up with a friendly smile when you entered; she appeared to be something akin to a rabbit – her fur was a soft pastel purple, and she wore a casual attire composed of a white tank top and dark blue jeans, paired with an eye-catching gold chain necklace and a sun-hat adorned with a small pink flower. She spoke with a smooth, confident air, her voice surprising deep for someone her size – which was, of course, taller than you, but for a monster decidedly average.

“Well now, you don’t see this everyday – if it isn’t Sans and his human friend…..was it y/n? You’re quite the talk of the town.”

She chuckles gently, offering you a paw in greeting, which you shake, smiling nervously at the notion of having a reputation.

“Don’t you worry, sweetheart; it’s all nice talk. You’re the first human to fall in a long while, and the only one to be so...”

She hums slightly to herself, stroking her whiskers gently with a contemplative expression.

“Well…..I would say friendly, but that’s such a weak description for it. What would you say, Sans?”

Sans jolts slightly in surprise at being addressed, before blushing faintly at the attention.

“I, uh...”

“Come now son, I know you’re a little more articulate than that!”

She giggles, whilst Sans blushes a little more.

“…. _compassion_ ….”

“What was that, now? Speak up, dear.”

“She’s compassionate; empathic.”

The rabbit monster clasps her paws in front of her with a pleased manner, whilst Sans disappears a little more into his furred hood; you blush mildly at the kind words.

“Yes, that’s perfect! Oh my, I’m so sorry; I’ve been talking up a storm without even introducing myself! I’m Kat; it’s very nice to meet you, y/n.”

“It’s nice to meet you too….uh, thank you for thinking so highly of me...”

You blush a little more, fidgeting your feet ever so slightly with nerves, while Kat smiles softly.

“No trouble at all, y/n – the truth is the truth. Now, what can I do you for?”

“Oh, uh, y/n is looking for some clothes.”

“Well, we have plenty of those! Come on dear, I’ll show you around; Sans, do me a favour and watch the front for costumers, will you?”

Sans nods with a sly smile as you’re ferried away by Kat to the room filled with rows of clothing; from the outlook, it was anything from formal to casual.

“It’s all things that have fallen from the surface; very useful for repurposing, and of course, for situations such as these!”

Kat grins, sighing gently to herself as she admires her collection. Now that she was standing next to you, you noted that while not being as tall as Papyrus and Toriel, she was still quite a bit taller than Sans; you inwardly smiled at this fact, happy that he was closer to your size – everything would have been a little more intimidating if everyone was enormously taller than you in stature.

“Now then, over here we have jeans….dresses over here….mind you, you’d need thick leggings to deal with the snow – I’m not sure if you’d be comfortable with that?”

“I’d be comfortable with anything, to be honest – as long as I’m warm!”

She grins at that, patting you gently on the head; you had the distinct impression that she was older than Sans, given how she spoke to him, and with how she acted around you it only seemed to confirm this thought.

“So, how long have you known Sans?”

She smiles warmly, helping you gather things into a pile that seemed to be your size for you to try on; she had quite good taste, as nothing in her shop was gaudy – everything had deliciously soft material, even the jeans.

“Well now….ever since the Serif family moved to Snowdin, I imagine! Obviously, since their father….left….”

She sighed sadly, shaking her head as she lowered her gaze in thought.

“Those poor boys; still so young for such a thing. I stepped in with some other residents to help out – let me tell you, things around here got a lot more exciting with those two to look after! Especially that Sans; such a trouble maker.”

You giggle as you hold up a particularly nice shirt to your person, grinning victoriously as you saw you’d more than likely fit into it.

“What kind of mischief did he get up to?”

“Oh my! Anything from pranking his poor brother to stealing cinnabunnies while my back was turned! Always using that magic of his for no good….”

She chuckled lightly, her eyes warm with memories.

“Ah, I forgot that this is where you buy those; I had some a few days ago, they were lovely!”

“Why, thank you, sweetheart – I try my best!”

She gathered all the clothes the two of you had picked out into a folded pile, before carrying them to a changing stall while you followed.

“Now, let’s get to business! I know that it’s quite the collection to work through, but I’m sure there’ll be some lovely things here for you, y/n.”

“Thank you so much for the help!”

She smiles softly, patting your head fondly once again.

“Would you like me to stay here, so you can have a second opinion? Sans is quite used to holding up the shop now….come to think of it, I believe it was his first job!”

She giggles at the memories happily, and you smile in response before nodding and ducking behind the curtain.

“Yeah, that would help out a lot, actually – thank you!”

“No problem at all. I know very well the pains of shopping; the amount of times I’ve been dragged around by my sister, I can tell you….”

You chuckle softly from behind the curtain, wiggling deftly out of your jeans and sweater, and into a thick pair of leggings, some leg warmers, and a soft green dress with long sleeves; it swung in a comfortable, heavy way from your hips, and ended tastefully just below the knee. Exiting the changing room, Kat gives you a thumbs up, before you quickly disappear again; she was right, this was quite the pile, and the quicker you threw on the items of clothing, the quicker you’d be back on the couch reading. As you tug off your new green dress, you select a large grey jumper that also reached you knees; upon exiting, Kat gave it a thumbs down.

“That colour drains you, sweet.”

You nod in agreement, once again disappearing; and so it goes on, as you slowly work through the tidal wave of clothing. In the end, you have quite the decent pile, one that would more than last you; not only things for the freezing Snowdin weather, but also vests, skirts and shorts that would work well for Hotland, and Kat had helped you by telling you what would be good for Waterfall and the Capital, whenever you got to see them; clothing that you’d expect to wear around springtime weather on the surface, not too hot, not too cold.

Kat had been meanwhile telling you all sorts of stories about the residents of Snowdin (such as the scandalous gossip surrounding a certain bear monster, oh my), as well as Sans and Papyrus’ childhood; while Sans had been mischievous and always using his intelligence to cause havoc (even when his father had been around; though apparently that was seldom, as he had been very busy with work), Papyrus had always been kind and attentive to others – and obviously obsessed with puzzles.

“So your sister – she’s the one who runs the inn, right?”

“Yup, certainly is! My, she’s got her own little family to deal with now. Four young ones…..my oh my.”

“Wow, that’s quite the family….”

“Oh sweet, it’s quite average for a rabbit monster. But still, I don’t know if I’d be able to handle that havoc! It was bad enough dealing with those brothers.”

You giggle, wrinkling your nose absent-mindedly as you wriggle back into your dirty jeans; the materials you’d been trying on for the last half hour had felt a lot more pleasant upon your skin.

“I can hear you two gossiping, you know.”

“Well, Sans Serif, you should know better! Eavesdropping is very rude.”

You hear Sans grumble to himself good naturedly from the across the shop, while you blush a little as you squirm back into your sweater; it hadn’t even occurred to you that he might have been listening in on your conversations.

You exit, huffing out lightly as you gathered together the rejects, helping Kat to place them back in their respective homes, before grabbing the positives pile to bring up to the counter. Kat begins to pack them neatly into brown paper bags, humming a gentle song softly to herself as she worked, folding each item with a precise deftness. You took the time to absent-mindedly look around on the other shelves, noting that, even though you more or less had an endless supply given your raiding of the pharmacy before you climbed the mountain, should you ever need to restock, this would be the place to come to.

Sans meanwhile whistles softly under his breath, looking at the clothing pile.

“Quite the stash you two have found.”

Kat quirked an eyebrow at him in a challenging manner, before going back to her packing.

“Well, she was in need of it, I believe – Sans Serif, I’m surprised at you! I would have thought you’d be a little more attentive to a woman’s needs!”

Sans blushes slightly, looking indignant, while Kat lets out a laugh, clearly relishing in teasing him.

“I-I _am_! We got a room ready for her, and everything!”

“Oh really? Well now, that _is_ something.”

Kat leans forward on the desk a little, giving him an easy smile.

“It’s good to see you working for something again; you had everyone worried for quite a while, you know.”

Sans shifted on his feet a little, looking surprised, before casting you a sheepish laugh and glance. You simply look back at him with a slightly confused smile; you already knew he’d been a ‘lazy bones’ as Papyrus would have put it, so hearing it from another person wasn’t all that big of a shock.

“Right then! I do believe that’s everything now.”

You approach the desk with a grin, digging out the small bag you’d put your gold in; you were happy your gold was something you’d taken to putting in your room, instead of your phone, otherwise you’d be in a bit of a pickle.

“How much?”

“Hmmm….I would say….50g.”

You and Sans both look at her suspiciously.

“That’s….more than a little low, considering the amount of clothing.”

Kat merely smiles, giving you a slow wink.

“First time costumer special. Besides, it’s not like I don’t know that you two will be giving me plenty of business.”

You sigh, giving in and handing her the respective amount, all while she still smiles easily – just as you’re reaching for the bags, she suddenly plops yet another small bag on top; you recognise the sweet smell of cinnamon and frosting immediately, and Sans groans.

“Kat, c’mon, it’s too much. There’s being generous -”

“Sans Serif, _hush yourself_. Allow an old woman some joy in her life!”

“ _One_ , you’re not old. I mean, come on, you’re only 15 years my senior. And _two_! Please, _please_ stop calling me by my full name.”

“Why? You getting embarrassed?”

Sans huffs, tucking his face a little into the collar of his coat.

“….no.”

Kat laughs loud, before making a shooing motion with her hands.

“Go on, now! It was lovely speaking with you, y/n – feel free to drop by whenever you wish for a chat.”

“Thank you – for all your help, and everything.”

“Yeah, thanks Kat.”

You all call out cheery goodbyes to each other as you exit; you huff out a little with the weight of your bags, before Sans grabs your waist and you’re stood in the centre of the living room. You allow yourself a luxurious stretch, wincing that, despite your best efforts, your spine lets out a loud snap. Attempting to save yourself from embarrassment, you grabbed your bags a little tighter and ran up the stairs (still clad in your heavy coat and boots), yelling a ‘sorry’ over your shoulder. Upon getting to your room, you quickly shut the door – then relax when you hear that Sans is laughing. So you’d probably only embarrassed yourself with your dramatic escape.

Patting your cheeks hurriedly in order to chase away your blush, you start to pack things away, and quickly select one of your new outfits to change into so you’d have a chance to wash your dirty clothes; a soft cotton pullover in a muted, gentle red, and a pair of black jeans. Steeling yourself for the imminent teasing, you grab your bundle of dirty clothing that was destined for the washing machine, along with your boots and coat, and start to head your way down the stairs.

Sans is sprawled out in his usual fashion upon the couch; obviously it was a trait that wasn’t dependant on his sleeping habits. He grinned at you in a lazy way, and waggled his brow bones.

“What?”

“Oh, heh, nothing.”

“No seriously, what? I know you, you wouldn’t be wearing that brand of grin unless you’re up to something.”

Sans frowns a touch, his gaze ponderous.

“Wait, ‘brand of grin’?”

“Yup. I mean, like every person, you have different expressions for every situation, right?”

You smirk at him dismissively, before looking around with a confused air.

“’sup buddy?”

“Um….where’s the washing machine.”

“….in the loft.”

“…..in the loft. Right. Where _else_ would it be?”

Sans shifted his body on the couch with a slightly uncomfortable expression.

“Also, how am I supposed to get into said loft?”

Sans sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.

“...Paps made me put it in there, if it helps.”

“….not really. I kind of need a ‘why’.”

Sans hung his head a little, chuckling in a shameful manner.

“Well….he wanted me to do all the clothes washing, right? So he made me put it somewhere in the house only I would be able to reach – it was in the loft, or….”

He faltered a little, shaking his head, then continuing.

“...so yeah. I can teleport to the loft, and no one else can. Hence, I have to wash the clothes.”

“…hence why there’s a pile of clothes in your room.”

He frowns at you.

“Hey, they’re clean…..mostly….I just don’t fold them up.”

“Uh-huh. So, we gonna go to this secret washing loft or not?”

You chuckle softly under your breath as you put away your coat and boots, Sans huffing in embarrassment in the background. You turn to him, giving him an expectant look, which he rolled his eye-lights at slightly before blipping both you and your clothing pile to the apparent loft….

…..the appearance of which was completely unexpected.

What you’d been expecting was some dusty old space with a random washing machine in the centre, but what the ‘loft’ was was a bright and airy room; the walls were a warm yellow shade, the floors underneath your feet old wood that had been treated kindly, and with the proper respect you believed most old wood floorings should receive. One small corner had indeed been devoted to a washing machine, dryer, and an assortment of baskets to make the job a little easier, but the rest of the room was devoted to the night sky and it’s studies; astrological charts lined the walls, detailing diagrams of different planets and their sedimentary layers, and the different stages of life that a star would typically go through as it burned out. There were pictures of theorised wormholes, constellations, anything you could possibly think of. Amazingly varied strengths of telescopes littered the majority of the space; Sans was obviously a collector of sorts. To top it all off, there were a pair of double doors leading to an enormous balcony.

“Wow….”

Sans rubs the back of his neck, making sheepish noises.

“I know it’s, eh, a bit much...”

“No, it’s seriously so cool!”

“….cool?”

“….I told you, I like lots of different sciences. So in my book, this is definitely cool…..I do have one question, however.”

“And what’s that, bud?”

“….since when do you have a balcony?”

Sans laughs pretty loudly at this, and you feel your face heat up with embarrassment.

“Oh man, I’m sorry, heh, I’d forgotten you’ve not seen the back of the house. Yup, we have a balcony.”

“….I can’t believe I’ve never thought to walk around to the back of your house before.”

Sans laughs loudly again, before tutting and poking you in the cheek, which you grumble at, narrowing your eyes at him as you rub the sore spot, still blushing with embarrassment.

“Y/n, it’s your house too now, don’t forget that.”

“That’s even worse, then! I’ve never seen the back of my own home. It’s a travesty.”

Sans laughs a little quieter, a blushing, pleased expression on his face at your words; it seemed he was happy with the idea of you truly thinking of it as ‘home’. Humming to yourself gently, happy with the fact that something so simple had made him happy, you head over to the ‘washing corner’, Sans hot on your heels.

“So, how long has the loft been your ‘space space’?”

Sans chokes out a surprised laugh, handing you the detergent once you had sorted through your pile for whites, putting the colours aside for the next wash.

“Oh my god. Y/n. I never even thought of that….”

He dreamily looks around as you pile your whites into the machine, measuring out the appropriate amount of detergent.

“It’s perfect. I think you’ve made my day.”

You giggle, poking him in the side, making him wince and squeak slightly simultaneously.

“You’re such a marshmallow! But seriously, how long have you been collecting?”

“A long while – I used to dig for hours at the dump when I was younger, heh…... _marshmallow_?”

“You know. ‘Cause you’re sweet and squishy.”

Sans blushes at this, narrowing his eyes at you, before deciding to take it as a back-handed compliment and shrugging. You frown slightly in concentration, turning the dials on the machine until the settings and time were correct, before you push the power button, then straighten yourself with a slight stretch as it sputters into life.

“Welp. That’s going to take….an hour? So….”

You happily walk about the room, exploring a little more thoroughly, Sans still following closely, which you pay a little more attention to now your task was over and done with for the moment.

“Uh….is there a reason why you’re following me around like a lost puppy?”

He stops at this, and you can hear him fumbling with his voice to find words as you continue your ministrations, hiding a smile at making him flustered.

“It’s ok, you know – I won’t hurt anything.”

“I-It’s not that…”

“Is it – oh.”

You stop at a certain poster, examining it a little closer, before turning to Sans with excitement.

“Did you draw some of theses?!”

He seems to almost collapse in on himself in relief, laughing weakly, and covering his face slightly as you stand there, confused, but still excited by this new titbit of information.

“What? What is it?”

“...eh, nothing. I guess I should stop worrying, and stop being surprised that you’d not be bothered by things like this.”

“...what?”

“Heh, I mean….”

He grumbles to himself slightly, before meeting your gaze, his eye-lights a little unsteady.

“I guess it’s looked upon as a little odd to be so fascinated with this kind of thing. I mean, monsters love the idea of seeing stars, and things like that, don’t get me wrong, but looking into the science side like this….heh.”

“Oh, ok, I see. Well, don’t worry about it – you’re forgetting something.”

You saunter a little closer, leaning into him as if you were about to confess the greatest of secrets; he looks vaguely nervous.

“…..I’m weird. So, anything you think of as ‘weird’, I’m more than likely to be obsessed by it.”

Sans puffs out some laughter, shaking his head slightly.

“Naw, bud, you’re not weird.”

“C’mon! We can make a weird club together. Have t-shirts!”

“And muffins.”

“That’s only because you liked them so much. I draw the line at ketchup.”

He looks personally offended, as if you’d just insulted his ancestors; you start to giggle stupidly again, turning and approaching the balcony cautiously, before looking to Sans for confirmation.

“Go ahead. It’s perfectly safe.”

You huff slightly with effort as you slide open the doors, and step out on the gently creaking wood of the balcony; it didn’t creak in a threatening way, more in a sense of a comforting sound that only weathered wood could have. You immediately wrap your arms about your person, gasping, before turning back to Sans who stood in the doorway, smirking at you.

“Holy crap is it _cold_!”

“Never been outside without your jacket, huh?”

You start to shudder, your teeth chattering loudly; Sans reaches out an arm slightly in concern.

“Uh, y/n, maybe you should come back in…?”

“B-b-but t-the view! It-it’s so n-nice!”

And it was, despite the biting cold – unlike the view from the roof, this was one that looked out upon the river and a seemingly endless sea of trees, mist from the frost gently creeping over the leafy tops. But you couldn’t admire for long, as obviously Sans decided that shaking as much as you were wasn’t all that safe for humans; you were back in the living room before you knew it.

“H-hey!”

A blanket is more or less hurled over you, and in your confusion at being covered, you’re quickly and effectively shoved down upon the couch. Finally managing to squirm your face out of your blanket prison, you try to hurl a glare at Sans, who was already heading to the kitchen, ignoring your chagrin.

“I’m making you hot chocolate. Stay put and warm up, ok?”

You mock growl at him, feeling satisfied when you hear him bark with laughter upon hearing it, and gather the blankets about your person a little more securely, still shuddering violently. You hadn’t really realised that you were as cold as this, as you’d been too absorbed by the fairy tale view; it was probably lucky that Sans was such a mother hen when it came to this kind of thing. You had to wonder how Papyrus could manage in his outfit in weather such as this…..

You’re yanked out of your thoughts as a mug of sweetness is thrust into your line of sight – you accepted it with a shaky thanks, sighing happily as you take a heady gulp.

“Better?”

“Yeah. Thanks – I should have noticed I got that cold that fast!”

“Heh. Couldn’t have you getting…. _chilled to the bone.”_

You giggle, shaking your head as you take another gulp.

“Oh, c’mon, that one hardly works – I’m not a skeleton monster.”

“Maybe not, but we’ve already established you have a skeleton inside ya.”

 

...You decide to ignore the cringey line and save Sans some dignity.

 

“Ok, ok, it half works.”

You shuffle in your blankets, happy you’d almost warmed up.

“So when Paps gets back, did you wanna go to Alphys’?”

“Oh yeah! I’d almost forgotten about that!”

“It’ll give you time to warm up, anyways. And don’t worry about your washing – when the hour’s up, I’ll chuck it in the dryer.”

“Sans, I only got cold! I can do it myself.”

Unable to poke him or anything akin to it due to your wrapped up state, you narrow your eyes at him with a growl. He rolls his eyes at your antics, laughing at your impression; it seemed that it would probably never get old for him.

“Ok, ok, tell ya what. We’ll sit here and read, and do the washing together. Deal?”

“Deal.”

So that was your early afternoon; reading from under your heavy blanket pile (whilst simultaneously gorging yourselves on the gifted cinnabunnies), and dealing with your washing (which admittedly was much easier with Sans’ help). It was a gentle, quiet time, content in a sense that it was simple, but not boring or anything akin to it, as you had one of your dearest friends for company.

But the hours soon rolled by, and before you knew it, you were jumping in surprise with Papyrus’ loud entrance.

 

You really hoped that one day you’d get used to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have some more fluff (╯ ･ ᗜ ･ )╯✧
> 
> Also, wanted to send out crazy amounts of thanks to the lovely shinyblusylveon - thank you so much for your kind words; it means more than you'd know. <3
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
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> 


	28. All That Glitters Isn't Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally confront a certain metallic celebrity...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!
> 
> Also....almost 4000 hits?! You guys.... T-T <3

“Brother! Sister!….have you….been making a blanket fort, perhaps?”

You giggle slightly, as you imagined that was, probably, exactly what it looked like, given the amount of covers Sans had obsessively strewn about your person.

“Nah Paps, y/n here got a little cold.”

“Oh! I was going to say that the fort was in need of….well, any kind of foundation. But no matter!”

You smile at Papyrus’ usual whimsy, and started to gather up your blanket collection, folding them as neatly as you could so that they could be put away – Papyrus almost immediately leapt to your aid in this, whilst his brother remaining lazily stretched out upon the couch. You had a feeling that if it had just been you and Sans, he would have most certainly been the one helping; but he did have certain appearances he had to keep up. You almost swore you could hear Papyrus grinding his teeth with his frustrations.

“Sans. Brother.”

“Yeah bro?”

“Help us with the removal and packing of blankets, please.”

Sans’ smile becomes just that little more smug, and he stretches out just that little bit more.

“…..ok.”

“Sans! I will not tolerate this!”

“Eh, don’t worry bro – I got you _covered_ , and I won’t _fold_ on that issue.”

“Yes, well, broth-”

Papyrus cuts off mid sentence, becoming very still whilst you and Sans attempt to cover idiotic sniggers. Then, without another word, Papyrus takes your folded blankets, and the blankets he’d been dealing with, walks over to where Sans is sitting, and promptly dumps the entirety of them all over him. He then turns sharply on his heel with an angry huff to the kitchen, leaving you to laugh at both his reaction and the fact that Sans was flailing wildly in an effort to escape the mound of blankets, effectively undoing any folding work; not that it mattered, really, as it was all a cost for the beautifully comedic situation.

Still buckled over from laughter, you stagger over to the pile of blankets (formerly named Sans), and started to help dig him out, folding as you went. Eventually, he emerged into view, giving you a sly wink as he did so.

“Hey there.”

“Pfft….hi.”

You finish up with the folding (Sans now actually helping out with the task, now that Papyrus was smacking pans around in the kitchen in a fit of spaghetti creation), before turning to him with a smile.

“So, when did you want to head out?”

“Now should be good. Hey bro!”

Papyrus sticks his head out of the kitchen archway, his brow bones raised in question.

“We’re gonna head on over to Alphys’ quick, but we’ll be back soon, ‘kay?”

Papyrus ‘nyeh’s out an affirmative, once again disappearing into the kitchen for the task of spaghetti making. Steeling yourself, you feel the familiar and quick embrace that foretold teleporting, before you appeared just outside the lab; you gasp slightly at the consuming heats of Hotland, quickly rushing in through the automatic doors in an effort to escape, Sans laughing at your reaction behind you as he followed at a leisurely pace. Upon entering, you notice that it seemed that Alphys is nowhere in sight; you look to Sans with slight confusion, but he just shrugs, before calling out causally.

“Hey Alph! You around?”

The lab just hums with the usual ‘silence’ only a place like a lab could possess; a silence that was filled with the sound of electricity performing various things all at once. Sans huffs slightly to himself, about to call out again, when a familiar figure steps into view – though not the one that you expected.

“She’s in the back, darlings – just finishing with your update, y/n dear. How _are_ the two of you, hmm?”

Mettaton smiles brightly, approaching swiftly, but stops abruptly in place when you hold up a hand.

“...gorgeous?”

You hold up a finger to motion that you needed a second, as you take in a cautious breath; you couldn’t allow yourself to get too angry, not yet.

“….Mettaton. I have something I need to ask you, and I need you to answer me honestly.”

Mettaton frowns a little under your serious gaze, before giving a slightly confused nod, urging you to continue.

“….Mettaton, that caller on air the other night – that was your cousin, Napstablook, wasn’t it?”

His face immediately freezes, and if an expression could sky-drop, his certainly did.

“...I take it that’s a yes. Now, _tell me_ -”

You step a little closer, your fists clenched unconsciously at your sides with your veiled rage.

“-what kind of fucking excuse do you have to leave him like that, hmm?”

“Darling, I can explain -”

“Well, please do. And it better be damn good.”

Mettaton’s eyebrows lift slightly, and he appears to gulp nervously; before letting out a breath, and gesturing to the couch.

“Please, sit….this might take a while.”

You give him a steely look, before approaching and sitting down upon the couch, your back stiff; Sans follows your actions behind you, aside from the fact that he almost seemed to lounge into the cushions, his grin just that little bit too wide as he stared at the metallic celebrity. You’d been so focused on your own rage you hadn’t taken into account what expressions he might have been pulling behind you – his face certainly didn’t give too much away at the moment, though you could tell he was barely keeping his own anger in check by the way his eye-lights wavered. He might not have known Napstablook, but you knew that the anger was genuine; Sans was a guy with a strong sense of justice, that much you could tell.

Mettaton himself did not sit; he instead paced lightly as the two of you seated yourselves, his heels tapping upon the flooring – and judging from his face, this was out of nervousness. As ‘good’ as an actor as he was, that kind of honesty in an expression is a little hard to replicate.

“Ok, ok…..so, you know of my….Blooky.”

“Yeah, I’m good friends with him. He was one of my first friends down here, actually.”

Mettaton’s face brightens with something akin to pride, before he quickly covers it with a slight cough, giving you a rueful expression.

“He always had so much trouble making friends…..but anyway. I, ah…..hmm.”

You cross your arms over your chest, leaning back into the couch cushions with the coldest expression you could summon.

“Go on. I have time.”

Mettaton at last comes to a stand-still, fidgeting with his hands a little – he wisely doesn’t even try to look to Sans for sympathy, as you were pretty sure he wouldn’t find anything there of that calibre. He takes in another heavy, nervous breath, tapping his feet in thought, his face a mixture of emotions.

“….we were raised together, you know. Blooky and I…..of course, we couldn’t be more different, but that didn’t stop us from being as close as could be. But where we were raised wasn’t exactly the best place for either of us, if I’m honest – it’s a place in Waterfall, the family Snail Farm.”

“….Snail Farm?”

“Oh! Of course, you probably haven’t been there yet….it’s as the name dictates, a farm filled with snails….monsters race snails there, terribly dull, I know.”

You blink slightly, not quite expecting that follow up, and you feel Sans shake with silent laughter at your reaction; obviously keeping it silent to not ruin the tension of the situation.

“Blooky was always shy, always reserved; the poor dear, he always became too nervous speaking to customers, or anything that involved public speaking – not the greatest when you have to build up tension for races. I, however….”

He tosses his hair a little, his vanity threatening to leak through – that is, until he saw your deadpan expression and reined it in.

“ _Ahem_. Yes, well, I loved the drama, but that was the problem, darling; it’s _snail_ racing. About as much drama as watching paint dry.”

He sighs heavily, his shoulder pads falling a little.

“So there we were, both of us stuck with a family business that neither of us really wanted.”

“...but what about the rest of your family?”

Mettaton again sighs, running a hand roughly through his hair.

“That’s just the thing, gorgeous. I -”

He suddenly stops, his face forming a frown as he appeared to realise something.

“Darling, you are aware that I’m what you would describe as a ‘ghost’ monster?”

“….what?”

He smiles slightly, and you hear Sans huff out a breath next to you; you look at him in question, his expression slightly dumbstruck.

“Oh, of course. _Now_ it all makes sense.”

“...what does?”

“Well, you see gorgeous, we ghost monsters remain….well, ‘ghostly’ until we choose a body to become corporeal with – and once we choose a body, that’s it, we _stay_ in that body. Now, most of my family have chosen things like….urgh, _mannequins_ ….”

Mettaton wrinkles his nose in vague disgust, whilst your mind trails back to that time when you’d accidentally sent a mannequin fleeing into the ceiling – distant family, perhaps?

“...well. All of our family chose their bodies and moved on to different sections of the Underground, onto their new corporeal lives….whilst Blooky and I remained. Blooky loves to make music, as I’m sure you’re aware; he’d never be able to do that in a body without arms! I’m just glad that I was there to make sure he wasn’t pressured into ‘the family choice’ - he always felt like he was being such a burden, I just -”

He cuts himself short, letting out an angry huff, before carrying on.

“So I told him to wait. After all, I was waiting – I wanted something beautiful. Not some grubby cast off, no, darling, I wanted….I wanted to be a _star_ , always have, always will. It was just Blooky and I, running a dying business – not many monsters want to race snails, after all. But it didn’t matter much; we had…..each other.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, his expression pained.

“But….I dreamed. Everyday, I would head to the dump, and gather all these….magazines. I made so many collages, darling – all these faces, all these images of things I thought were beautiful. I tried to persuade Blooky to do the same, but he always seemed to be so absorbed by his music….but that was fine, I always put aside images that I thought would suit him too. But then….I met Dr. Alphys. I’d come across her at the dump; she’d just found this box-set of one of her animes, and I saw….I saw the pictures on the box, and….”

“...you liked the image, huh?”

“….I did, yes. Of course, I didn’t know she was who she was, and she didn’t know me – but when she saw me getting so excited, she decided that she wanted to help with my, uh, dilemma. So she presented a deal….”

He coughs slightly, before leaning towards you, his face secretive.

“...I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but….well, y/n, I trust you, and I certainly know that Sans is a friend of Alphys….she gave me a deal of acting as a robot she had created, so she could gain the position of Royal Scientist – and in return, the body she’d create would be everything I dreamed of, and more. But…..I obviously couldn’t tell anyone. I….”

“…. _you abandoned him_.”

“I couldn’t tell him!”

“You know as well as I do that Napstablook would never rat you out – for fuck sake, Mettaton, he _loves_ you. Even after all this time. And now he’s dealing with that ‘dead business’ that you’ve already admitted he hates all by himself. _Alone_. Because _you_ left him there.”

Mettaton’s shoulders are slumped, his face a grimace of sorrow and guilt.

“….I know. I’m….I’m a selfish, selfish soul. All I could see was the fame, darling, nothing else. When I got that phone call….I knew what I’d done was disgusting. _I’m_ disgusting.”

His shoulders start to shake, his face crumpling with unshed tears, and against your better judgement, you stand and give him a hug, making him start with a soft gasp – before he returns the hug hard, crying softly. You allow him a moment, only continuing when his crying seems to subside.

“….you should go see him, you know. Apologise. You know he’ll forgive you – and you know he’ll keep your secret. You owe it to him, don’t you think?”

Mettaton sniffs into your shoulder, nodding.

“….thank you, y/n, darling. I will, definitely.”

You hum slightly, pulling away from the hug as Mettaton wipes his eyes – his tears looked to be something a little like black ink with pink glitter mixed within; at the back of your mind really hoped they hadn’t stained your new red top beyond repair.

“...you know, you’re better like this.”

“What, gorgeous?”

“….you’re better genuine. I mean, by all means, keep your act on screen, but when you’re among friends….you should be _yourself_. It’s better.”

He starts slightly, then gives you a very different smile, one you’d never seen him pull; you could tell this one was real.

“I’ll take that into account, darling. Still, I’m so glad that you consider me a friend!”

You laugh lightly, giving a stretch, your expression slightly sardonic.

“Sure. Just don’t make Napstablook cry any more, and we’re golden.”

You hear Sans snigger from the couch he’d stretched out upon, and you’re once again surprised by the honesty of Mettaton’s determined smile and nod.

“But of course, darling – my Blooky shall be the happiest he’s ever been, I swear it.”

“So, you could say that you….. _regretatton_?”

Sans all but chortles behind you, gasping for breath, and Mettaton’s mutely shocked expression is more than enough to send you over the edge as well; after a spell he however takes the joke well, even laughing a little along with the two of you. You liked him a lot more like this, you hadn’t just been saying it for the sake of it – you’d never seen the point of pretending to be something you’re not, but in this case, you could see why he had up until this point.

It’s at that moment that Alphys finally walks in, puffing slightly – she’d obviously been trying to hurry, which was sweet.

“Y-y/n! I’m so so so-sorry that I took so long!”

“Don’t worry about it – I was having quite the conversation with Mettaton here, anyway.”

“Yes, darling; I finally told someone about my past! I feel so much better for it…..y/n persuaded me that it would be better for me to see my cousin.”

Alphys smiles at this with gentle approval, patting Mettaton’s arm.

“T-that’s wonderful, M-Mettaton...I’m sure it’ll m-make him happy….a-and you too, obviously….anyway! H-here’s your phone, y-y/n. Oh, I a-also managed to get all y-your data off of your o-old phone, too. And it has…..a f-few new things. I ho-hope you like it!”

You gasp slightly as she carefully places your new device into your hands, and Sans whistles softly in an appreciative tone over your shoulder at the sight. It’s much slimmer than the previous version, and glossy black; you had to wonder what new secrets it would hold, considering the fact that the inventory box was standard for any device. Alphys fidgets slightly in front of you, looking down at her feet anxiously.

“Wow, thank you! Seriously, how did you even do this?!”

She laughs gently, letting out a breath she’d obviously been holding in her nervousness.

“I-I’m quite used to u-updating and fixing machines for o-other monsters; like if someone f-finds a toaster at the d-dump or something. So th-this was actually a nice change!”

She smiles brightly at you, and you answer in kind, before she leans in a little closer to you, gesturing to the device.

“I-I installed an application that a-allows you to use Undernet – it’s a s-social networking s-site down here. S-so we can all k-keep in touch! I-I mean, you c-can text and call on t-there too, but it’s just a l-little more fun...”

“Sounds good! Uh, how do I….?”

You turn on you new phone, observing the new icons on your screen; you now had a contacts section, your inventory box, the Undernet thing, a pictures section, and two rather odd options – something called ‘pocket jet’ and another called ‘soul scan’.

“O-oh! T-those are….j-just don’t touch them f-for now, ok? Here, I’ll he-help you set up a profile on Undernet, and a-add everybody you know...”

“Uh….nobody’s going to know I’m human on here, right?”

“O-oh no! It’s anonymous, don’t wo-worry.”

You click on it curiously, your phone opening up the application; it looks to be pretty simple, asking you to fill in sections for your username, age, and to pick a picture to represent ‘you’ - you choose a picture of what looked to be a star, and used the username ‘OrionTheGreatHunter’ as it had always been such on the surface.

“O-ok! Now, l-let’s add everyone…..”

She gently guides you through the majority of people you knew – Papyrus was under the pen name ‘CoolSkeleton95’, Alphys under ‘MewMewCutie’, and Mettaton under ‘MTTNeo’. You’re about to shut the app down when Sans quickly taps something out on his phone, and you receive an add from the user ‘BoneHead’. You snort, looking at him incredulously.

“Of course you’d pick a username like that.”

“Heh, you know me too well buddy.”

You add him, still chuckling slightly, before closing down the application and clicking on your images section; and sighing happily when you see that Alphys had indeed managed to get every single photo you’d ever taken up on the surface – including your last before you fell, of that beautiful and perfect night sky. You put your phone away with a bittersweet happiness, knowing that you’d be able to show everyone things like that, even if it was only in picture form.

“So, what did you decide to do with the parts from my old phone?”

“O-oh, they’ve become useful in many different things -”

“Like me, darling! Alphys was having some trouble creating a battery that would sufficiently supply my new body with power for a substantial time – but not any more!”

“M-Mettaton, it’s still not p-perfect -”

“Nonsense, darling, you always do a fantastic job. Give yourself more credit!”

She blushes gently, before coughing slightly as she simply nods, accepting the compliment whilst Mettaton looks on smugly. Sans meanwhile stands with a stretch, looking down at you with a brow bone slightly raised.

“Ready for dinner?”

“Yeah, I think so – hey, at least this’ll be easier to organise times for Thursday!”

“….o-oh! Anime n-night!”

Alphys gets that familiar excited look on her face, and you grin with her, both of you squeaking with joy for a moment at the prospect; which is why you don’t notice immediately that Sans has taken Mettaton off to the side, softly discussing something, before he promptly turns back to you, leaving Mettaton with a….slightly odd expression upon his metallic features.

“...you guys ok?”

“Yup.”

“Oh! Yes darling, never better.”

You frown suspiciously, before huffing, dropping the matter for the time being, and giving a final goodbye to Alphys and Mettaton. Before you can blink (almost literally), you’re sat back on the couch in the living room – and you can smell that the usual delicious pasta is almost complete, you stomach giving a gentle growl in anticipation.

“We’re back, bro!”

“Ah, brother, sister, welcome home! Y/n, I assume you’re the one who added me on Undernet?”

“I am indeed, Paps.”

“Wonderful! A new level of friendship, nyeh heh heh!”

You smile and giggle softly to yourself, before looking to Sans enquiringly.

“….so. What did you do?”

“...what?”

“C’mon Sans. To Mettaton? Did you threaten him or something?”

You laugh again, and he joins you, albeit a little sheepishly.

“Something like that. Hey, I just wanted to really drive the point home – you know you’re too nice.”

“Pfft, I can be perfectly horrible, thank you very much! Besides, I think he meant it, you know.”

“Hmm. That might be true….still doesn’t mean I like the bucket of bolts much, though.”

“Aw, c’mon, you like him a little, I can tell.”

“I don’t need that much glitter in my life.”

You both chuckle again, standing up from the couch as Papyrus brings in the delectable bowls of pasta, which is as delicious as ever. You mention to Papyrus about Toriel being happy to, at some point, meet up for a cooking day – which he seems completely overjoyed with.

“But of course, it will have to be planned! I must put aside days for double training so a day off will not damage my wonderful physique too much.”

Sans all but spits his pasta out over the table, receiving a scathing look from Papyrus.

“You’re just jealous of this perfection, brother!”

“Papyrus, for the last time, you don’t have biceps -”

“Not visible ones! And you know this perfectly well, lazy bones.”

You giggle softly, taking a sip from a glass of water you have nearby.

“C’mon guys, don’t argue – we’re _all_ beautiful at this table, after all.”

“Indeed! You see, brother!”

Sans chuckles, holding up his hands in defeat, before taking in a glug of ketchup, which Papyrus winces slightly at.

After dinner, you all sit down upon the couch for the house ‘tradition’ of watching through Mettaton’s two hour segment; luckily you’d had time to arrange a slight escape with Sans via the pictures on your new phone – so while Papyrus sat in absolute rapture (after all, the star was doing all his usual sections with his new body; quite the different show), you both silently flicked through all you’d ever taken. Pictures of the sea, the night sky, sunsets, sun rises….and animals. At first, you’d thought that perhaps Sans would be surprised to see them, but when he only smiles gently at the various pictures of cute animals you’d met, you look at him with clear questions in your eyes; he takes out his phone to answer.

 

_Sometimes animals fall down here and survive – I mean, it’s not common, but it happens. We have quite a few birds….occasionally something like a cat or dog, but like I said, rare._

 

You hum slightly in thought at this, before shrugging, and carrying on with the picture show – you obviously end with the last picture you’d ever taken up on the surface, which Sans seemed just as spell bound by as you had been; you could only imagine what his reaction would have been if he’d actually seen it in person….it was with these thoughts in mind that something suddenly occurred to you.

You’d always been told that the Underground needed a total of seven souls to break the barrier; up until this point, this information had simply been stored in the back of you mind, but now….

You realised how many pairs of shoes you’d seen stashed under the bed back at Toriel’s.

 

_Exactly six._

 

Which would make you the last soul needed to set everyone free.

A hollow sadness formed at the pit of your stomach, bile rising in your throat at the realisation. If you _died_ , if you gave up your soul, all of these wonderful beings, all of your friends and family, would know freedom, would know the sun, the stars – but you also knew what that would cost you.

You’d only just started to _live_.

You gasp harshly as you feel a sudden, sharp stab in the centre of your chest; Papyrus jumps slightly in reaction, but what you didn’t expect was for Sans to jolt next to you as if he’d been shot through with a live wire.

“Sister! Are you alright?”

“No, no, I’m – Sans, what’s wrong? Are you -”

“Heh, I’m fine bud, was just surprised. You sounded like….something _hurt_ , for a second there.”

You grumble at his perceptive nature, before unconsciously rubbing the centre of your chest, where the pain had been, which Sans narrows his sockets at. He stands abruptly from the couch, and takes out his phone, throwing you and his brother a reassuring look.

“Hold tight, guys. Just need to make a quick call. Be back in a sec.”

He dials a number, before heading into the kitchen, leaving Papyrus to gently pat your shoulder, while your brow furrows in confusion. You’re about to complain about him worrying about nothing, before you suck in a pained gasp, as your chest gives you another shocking stab. Papyrus’ hand upon your shoulder grasps a little tighter, as he now gives you a strangely perceptive look of his own.

“Sister….is your soul….hurting?”

“….maybe? I don’t know, I guess it must be.”

Papyrus hums a little, his face oddly serious – before he gives you a bright, comforting smile.

“Do not worry! I’m sure everything will be just fine – the great Papyrus is here with you, after all!”

You smile, once again glad for his infectious positivity; before you both sit up a little straighter as Sans walks quickly back into the room, his face panicked, his eye-lights mirroring this with their pin-pricked size.

“We’re going to Alphys’, c’mon.”

“Wait, what?”

“We’re gonna get you scanned, see what’s wrong.”

“Wait, how did you know -”

“C’mon, y/n, I’ll tell you later, I _promise_ – but I….”

He stops for a second, his expression positivity anguished. You stand without a second thought, Papyrus standing with you, his hand still upon your shoulder; obviously attempting to be there to steady you, just in case you needed it.

“We’ll be back soon Paps -”

“No brother. I’m coming with you.”

“Papyrus -”

“I will _not_ budge on this, Sans! Y/n is important to me.”

Papyrus stands proud, still supporting you, and you see Sans’ anxious expression twitch into a smile of brotherly pride for a moment, before he nods.

“I’ll get y/n across first, then I’ll be back for you, ok?”

“Alright brother. I shall see you soon.”

Sans quickly embraces you, and you appear in Alphys’ ‘living room’, then he quickly disappears and then reappears with Papyrus, before Alphys can so much as squeak; she’d been sitting upon the couch at the time. But she quickly takes it in her stride, especially when your chest gives another stab, making you shudder and curl in on yourself in reflex; she more or less leaps up from the couch, exerting herself more than you’d ever seen from her previously, her eyes filled with worry.

“O-oh, y/n! Come o-on, we n-need to get you scanned. U-um….you two w-wait here, please.”

You’re quickly ushered out from the room, leaving Papyrus and Sans to stare after you, their faces etched with pure worry.

Alphys quickly leads you down the increasingly familiar hallways, gesturing for you to lay down upon the reclining chair, begging you to relax as she all but runs to prep the machine.

“Alphys, it’s ok – it’s only a bit of pain, calm down, alright?”

“O-oh no, y/n, it’s more…..I-I mean, pain in y-your soul can be a s-serious thing! A-and with your HP….”

You frown worriedly, rubbing at the space where your soul lay deftly; you’d never imagined that it could mean something so dire. Having finished with the prep, Alphys quickly taps her way back over to you, taking in a shaking breath, before gently reaching out, and making the familiar motion of pulling your soul out into the open – before you both gasp in unison at the sight.

 

“O-oh no….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y/N: "Oh no..."  
> Alphys: "O-Oh no..."  
> Me: "OH YEAH!" *kicks down wall*
> 
> Sending out another massive thank you to Punnybutt! (´꒳`) Thank you so much for your kind words - I promise that I'll keep trying my best! •̀.̫•́✧
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	29. Good Vibes Only

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally find out the fate of our soul...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

“O-oh no….”

Alphys lets out a gasping breath, but you’re frozen in confusion.

“Wha…..what’s….”

Your soul shines with the usual cacophony of colours and light refractions, but the glaring difference is with your hairline fractures – at the very top right corner of your soul, one of the fractures has opened up slightly, more of a crack now.

Alphys suddenly surprises you by grabbing your hand fiercely, her expression slightly stern, but not in an unkind way; no, this was the expression of someone about to give out hard advice, and it was an expression you instinctively shied away from.

“Y-y/n, listen to me. A s-soul only cracks or b-breaks under immense pressure – from d-direct damage in an a-attack, or from….emotional trauma. Y/n, y-you need to talk to me, _please_ ….or t-to someone else. We all r-really care about you. Please…..w-what’s wrong?”

You turn quiet, not being able to meet her direct eye contact. You knew of your past, but that was an old burden, a wound you were not willing to even _think_ about opening. So the only other ‘traumatic’ thought you’d had recently was…

“….I’m the last….soul you need. I was….”

You gasp slightly, at several things; trying and failing to keep your tears under lock down, feeling another jab of pain at your chest, and watching the crack split just a little more – like cotton fabric beginning to fray.

“Y-y/n…..”

Alphys’ hand upon yours gripped just that little bit tighter, and through the sea of tears you were fighting against, you could see that she was also crying, her expression conflicted.

“….of c-course, I knew y-you’d figure it out a-at some point. L-look….I get it. B-but, none of us w-want to lose you over….n-none of us want to lose you. E-even if we did get to the s-surface, it wouldn’t be w-worth it.”

You cry a little more, reflexively curling up a little when the crack widened – Alphys pulled away at this, scrubbing at her eyes hurriedly as she quickly tapped her way to the scanner panel, talking as she went.

“T-the ruling for….t-taking human souls w-was issued a long t-time ago. I-I never agreed w-with it, a l-lot of monsters didn’t….but it was a monarchy ruling. S-so, I started t-to work really h-hard….to b-become the Royal Scientist, so I-I could do some good. I…..I just wanted to help…..i-if I can find a w-way, something other than u-using human souls…..no, y-you know what? _I will_.”

You try to keep still, and not think, and allow Alphys’ words to sink in around the grief you’d been feeling – it helped a little. It helped to think that you had such good friends. _It helped_. You just needed to focus on that.

Before long, the printer whirs into life, spitting out paper, but Alphys ignores it in favour of coming back to you, and softly pushing your soul back into your being with a sigh.

You go to stand, but she stops you gently, analysing your face, before reaching into her pocket and retrieving a packet of tissues, which she offers.

“I-it’s not g-going to help much, b-but here…..y-you need to talk to t-them, you know?”

You accept the tissues, hurriedly wiping at your eyes and face – though you knew that it couldn’t do much for your overall appearance. You go to speak, but she stops you once again, her face gentle.

“I-I know you don’t want t-to, but….we a-all really….”

“I know. I’m so sorry.”

You hiss in a slight breath again as you feel the crack widen a fraction; Alphys sighs sadly, pulling back, and gathering the papers before gesturing for you to follow her, as she smiled kindly at you. You both head out of the room together in subdued silence, with you trying not to think of anything, and Alphys looking over the papers – both brothers stand as you re-enter the sofa space. To your slight surprise (and panic, given the situation), Mettaton is also with them, his expression peppered with genuine concern; you’re glad that he’s at least keeping to his genuine behaviour when in the company of friends.

“Sister! Are you alright?”

“What’s the verdict, Alph?”

Alphys lets out a wavering breath, tapping a claw on the rim of her glasses as she looks at you for confirmation; you give a small nod, an arm reflexively slung across your waist as you look away, still trying to keep your thoughts straight. Alphys takes in a quick breath, looking over the papers.

“Y/n has s-suffered a slight crack to her s-soul…..”

There’s a solid intake of breath around you in reaction.

“N-nothing time and a little care wo-won’t fix, b-but….it’s be-because she’s been….”

“I realised that I’m the last soul you all need to break the barrier. I’ve been thinking about how selfish that is….about how selfish _I_ am for….for not….”

You keep you voice low and even, not thinking about what you’re saying, in order to minimise any damage; luckily, your soul doesn’t seem to react, but that can’t be said for your friend’s reactions – the room is, all of a sudden, deathly silent. You wince slightly as you feel the presence of someone approach you, before you look up; then quickly snap your gaze back down to the floor as you realise that someone is _everyone._

“Sister….”

You sigh, then manage to warily look back up, meeting Papyrus’ gaze.

“...you’re very brave.”

“...huh?”

“Sister, you’re one of the bravest souls I’ve met. You’re in a situation that I’m not sure even I, the great Papyrus, would be able to handle – this must be….literally a whole new world to you. But, you must know, especially after our conversation the other day; you mean a lot, to all of us.”

You see that he has tears in his sockets, his usual happy expression wavering with a clear onslaught of emotions, and you somehow feel even worse; you’d realised that what you’d said had brought to light on what the Royal Guard really needed humans for, a fact that Papyrus hadn’t been aware of.

Without even thinking, you’d probably ruined his one dream.

Your soul gives a lurch, and you gulp reflexively to cover the groan of pain; an action which is only partially successful, given Papyrus’ anxious wince in reaction. Regardless, he reaches out and gently pats you upon the head, his gaze kindly.

“...I must admit, it’s truly not what I envisioned when I started my training.”

“Papyrus, I am _so_ sorry -”

“Don’t be. And do not worry – this _will not_ stop my dream. I _will_ become the finest of Royal Guardsmen; the finest due to my ability to help those in need, and to be there when I’m needed. In my mind, _that_ is what being a Royal Guard should be.”

He smiles, drawing himself up proudly; and you feel the heavy sensation in your chest lessen a fraction.

“Papyrus….you really are the coolest, you know?”

He lets out a softly happy ‘nyeh heh heh’, giving your head another comforting pat.

“Darling.”

You look in surprise at Mettaton, who has actually knelt down to your eye level; you still weren’t quite used to seeing genuine emotions from him, but at the moment, his gaze was level and confident – but not unkind, not by any stretch of the imagination. As a matter of fact, you could almost describe it as….warm.

“Gorgeous, when you first walked out of those Ruins, I have to admit, Alphys and I were shocked, scared even – we were just about to send out some sort of warning, but then…..you _waved_. You looked straight at us, and waved with this…..it was such an adorable expression! Then we watched as you interacted with everyone – even when in a tense situation, you were peaceful, you were kind. And that, darling, sold us; well, I _knew_ that I had to meet you. And I couldn’t be more glad that I have.”

He gently pokes a finger just above the area where your soul lay, a tilting smile on his face.

“You’re a diamond, dear – this can’t break you, please don’t let it, not now, not after all you’ve been through. You have us, and we have you; I can’t think of anything better.”

The weight on you gets lighter still, as you feel yourself chuckle weakly in reflex at what he’d said – you’d never even realised that you’d made that big of an impact on him. You then gasp as you feel a hand tug at your arm, swiftly drawing you away from everyone; Papyrus frowns heavily in reaction.

“Sans! You surprised her!”

“I’m sorry bro – sorry y/n, I just…...anything on the papers, Alph?”

“N-nothing out of the o-ordinary for y/n, but Sans there’s -”

“I just need to talk to her for a second, ok?”

“Alright, brother, but -”

You yelp slightly as you feel Sans embrace you, and blink as you find yourself back in the darkened examination room; the main lights had been switched off, the only illumination coming from the open door, and the various machines the room contained.

“...Sans? What-”

“Sorry, I couldn’t think of anywhere else that was close by and quiet, I just….”

You turn to him, seeing that he had his back to you, a hand across his face. He takes in a haggard breath, before turning swiftly to you, suddenly drawing you into a hug; it makes you gasp, yet again – you weren’t accustomed to him acting so….jaggedly, jumping from one action to another.

“Y/n, I’m so sorry.”

You blink owlishly at the darkened room, trying to make sense of his apology.

“I didn’t think. I….of course, I’ve been so _stupid_ , I should have known -”

“No, don’t think like that. Please. Sans, you and your brother have done nothing but been kind, and made me feel welcome; this is my fault. I just wish I could -”

“ _Don’t_. Look, there are ways around it, I’m sure of it, I always have been…...before….before my dad went, we worked on it. We were looking into ways around the barrier that didn’t involve such sacrifice. It doesn’t have to be an escape only made victorious with _death_. That’s….not right, and my dad thought so too. So…..please. Please don’t think that it’s the only option; I won’t let it be.”

You sigh gently, finally returning the hug, and you feel Sans relax as you do, his body sagging into yours; you could feel a slight tremor running through him, but you put it down to his own emotions running wild at the situation. The weight upon your soul was more or less lifted; true, you felt awful about being an easy way out for your friends, but you also felt oddly at peace, knowing the people around you felt such genuine affection – a friendship that they’d keep at any cost.

It was an oddly bittersweet feeling.

“You know….your brother told me you’d been a lot happier since I’d been around.”

You felt Sans stiffen for just a fraction of a moment, before he relapsed into his relaxed slump against you, chuckling slightly.

“Oh yeah? Well, he’s not lying. I have been – I mean, we _both_ have, and, uh -”

“I’m glad. I’m happier, too.”

He laughs softly again, pulling back slightly from the hug to look intently at you, his eye-lights examining every expression crossing your features.

“It…..it doesn’t hurt any more, does it?”

It’s not a question; in fact, his words are a deliberate statement, more than anything – you frown suspiciously in reaction.

“No, it doesn’t….talking to everyone was like lifting a literal weight off of me. But how did -”

“That’s good….I’m happy. C’mon, I’m sure Alph has got something that can help with the damage a little.”

“Sans-”

You’re cut off by him teleporting the two of you back to the sofa space, everyone around you jumping slightly with the sudden entrance; Sans quickly heads over to Alphys, muttering something, and draws her away while looking at the papers – you look after him feeling slightly frustrated, and knowing this was something you were going to push with later. And that was a _definite_ – whether he liked it or not, you were going to find out how he knew so much about what you were feeling. Papyrus approaches you, also frowning with a slightly frustrated expression after his brother.

“What on earth did he have to drag you off for, sister?….and are you alright? How are you feeling?”

“….I’m much better, I think. Thank you. I…..you mean a lot to me too, you know. Everyone does.”

He smiles gently, deftly patting your head.

“I don’t know why he had to drag me away, though…..maybe he just gets hug shy?”

Mettaton raises a pristine eyebrow, smirking slightly.

“ _Hug shy_ , you say?”

“...well, I mean, maybe just shy in general. It was nice things he said, don’t worry.”

Sans himself suddenly returns, then looks with mild confusion at both his brother and Mettaton, who are giving him slightly odd, smug expressions – he frowns in return, before gesturing for you.

“Hey, uh, Alph has something that’ll help with the healing process, as your HP dropped a fraction with the injury – nothing too serious, don’t worry.”

“Y-yes, it’s right here….”

Alphys hands you a small bar of what looked to be chocolate; you look at it and her in bemusement, and she giggles slightly.

“It h-has an extremely high HP h-healing rate – m-magic can be weird.”

You shrug, opening it up and taking a bite; it was as it appeared to be, a chocolate bar filled with soft nougat and nuts (only far more delicious than that, given it was monster food) – but you could also feel this soaring, euphoric feeling in your chest, and you knew it was doing something beneficial to that crack within your being as you finished it off.

“Wow, that’s….I mean, I knew that monster food could heal, but….”

“...it’s different? Yeah, it’s extra strong; made for emergency situations. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah. It feels really….”

You blink, then giggle lightly, as it dawned on you that it was giving off the same kind of feeling as a strong painkiller would; but it obviously wasn’t an unexpected reaction, given the gentle amusement of your friends around you.

“Darling, how beautiful do I look now that the world is a…..brighter place?”

“D-don’t be m-mean, Mettaton.”

“I’m not! It was a purely selfish question, I’ll have you know.”

“You’re as beautiful as ever, Mettaton.”

Even though you slur your words ever so slightly, Mettaton gasps in happiness, then grins at Alphys in victory; who merely shrugs, smirking slightly at his reaction, while Papyrus turns to Mettaton with his usual flourish.

“Yes, indeed, Mettaton! I never got to the chance to say how wonderful your reveal was – we were all very impressed!”

You’re not quite sure if it’s the bar’s effects, but you could have sworn you saw Mettaton blush.

“Oh, why, thank you, Papy dear – that means a lot.”

You blink slightly, knowing that you hadn’t mishear that, at least – _a pet name_? It seems that Sans also notices, as he almost huffs out his irritation as he speaks.

“Yeah – must have cost a fortune in craft glitter.”

You have to swallow down your laughter at the salty comment; but it’s like water of a duck’s back to Mettaton, who almost seems to take it as a compliment – well, his love of glitter was shockingly apparent.

“You know, not quite as much as you’d think! It’s madness, the amount that falls to the Underground; why do humans waste such beauty, y/n?!”

“I’m not….quite sure?”

Mettaton looks slightly put out with the lack of answer (clearly it had been a dilemma that had been bothering him for a while), while Alphys throws you a gentle expression.

“H-how are you feeling, y/n?”

“I mean, aside from feeling a little…..out of sorts….I feel better. So...thank you. All of you.”

Everyone gives you the warmest of smiles in return, and despite how everything had all of a sudden been cast in the ‘happiest of lights’….you were more than certain that the expressions were what you deemed them to be.

“We-well, as you know, y-your results were the u-usual, so it hasn’t d-done any permanent damage, thank g-goodness. You should be h-healed up pretty soon – a-as long as y-you’re still feeling ok.”

“I will be. I have you guys, after all.”

You huff in surprise as you’re suddenly gathered up in a Papyrus brand hug, feet lifted off the floor and all.

“Indeed, sister! We’ll all be here, and it will all be ok, as long as we have each other!”

“Paps, she needs to breathe.”

Papyrus puts you back upon solid ground, patting your head slightly, and in your ‘elevated’ state, you narrow your eyes, as you come to realise something you’d never thought of.

“….you ok there, y/n buddy? Ya look like you’re gonna start producing steam, or something.”

“I’m thinking….”

“I can see that.”

You feel your cheeks heat up and you huff in response to his comment, only receiving a sly shrug in return as the others giggled (well, to be fair, Papyrus gave Sans a slightly withering gaze, though his sockets still held some kind of amusement).

“I just….I just realised that….I don’t know how old anyone is. Wait, is that rude? That’s probably rude, right?”

This was met with full blown laughter this time, and you cover your face in an effort to hide your shame, groaning softly to yourself and cursing the bar you ate to some place lower than the Underground could ever reach.

“Urgh, I’m sorry! Why didn’t anyone warn me that chocolate nougat would dumb me down this much?!”

“Heh, don’t worry about it bud, it’s not a rude or silly question at all – just caught us off guard, I think.”

“Darling, I would have thought that this beauty would be ageless!”

“M-Mettaton, you kn-know perfectly well that y-you’re 20.”

Mettaton gasps dramatically, before seeing the dead-panned expressions both you and Sans were throwing his way (Papyrus seemed to be the only positive reaction, in fact), and nodding with a sigh.

“Alas, it’s true, gorgeous. Still, like I said, beauty is ageless!~”

“I-I’m 23.”

“Oh wow! That’s actually the same as me.”

Alphys laughs lightly in surprise, giving you a smile.

“Wowie! That would make me the youngest at 18.”

You blink owlishly in surprise, once again taking in Papyrus’ great height, only this time with your new knowledge – that and his general maturity over things. Your respect for him, that had already been pretty high, was tenfold.

“…..you’re _so cool_ , Papyrus.”

He nyeh heh hehs in victory, hands planted on hips, while Sans sighs a little sadly, shaking his head; you look at him in question.

“I’m so old.”

“S-Sans, you’re only 24 – t-that’s not old.”

“Sure it is, I mean, look at me – I’m all bones.”

You let out a snort of laughter, while there are varying degrees of groans around you in reaction; Sans merely shrugs, slyly poking his tongue out at you.

“What brought on that question, bud?”

“I’m not sure….I guess…..well, we’re all close friends now, and it just stuck me as odd that I didn’t know how old everyone was, heh.”

“Well, wonder no more, gorgeous!”

“Uh, I’m guessing that monsters don’t quite count years like humans do though, right?”

“0-oh no, we do – we j-just, um, live a lot l-longer.”

Alphys lets out a gentle, snorting chuckle – it still boggled your mind that monsters could live for thousands of years; it somehow made the injustice of being trapped underground all the more bitter.

“Hey, uh, sorry to cut stuff short, but I think we’ll have to get back fairly soon – I mean, you have training tomorrow, right bro?”

Papyrus gasps at this, looking aghast – though you had to wonder at why this was a surprise to him, given the fact that he trained every day without fail.

“You’re correct! But we must have another evening of games at some point!”

Mettaton bats his eyelashes in Papyrus’ direction, laying on his ‘suave’ attitude with a trowel.

“Oh yes, Papy dear, we simply _must_ ~”

Just as Papyrus’ face is starting to approach lightbulb level of blushing, Sans steps in with a growl.

“Yup, evening on the cards, see you later – be back in a sec, y/n. C’mon Paps.”

With that, Sans and his brother blip away while you and Alphys share a quick giggle, and Mettaton looks vaguely put out, before he turns to you with a new fire in his expression.

“Gorgeous.”

“Yes, Mettaton?”

“I’ve been thinking – we simply _must_ have a make over session some time!”

“Uh-”

“Oh please, it would be _so_ much fun! Don’t you think so, Alphys darling?”

Alphys shrugs, looking a little awkward and making a non committal noise; she obviously didn’t want to disappoint either party, having seen how excited Mettaton was and how apathetic you were about it. Heaving a sigh, you decide to roll with it – after all, what was the harm?

“Sure. Why not?”

You didn’t quite expect the cacophony of excited shrieks as Mettaton hugs you in victory, lifting you up off the ground – and it was obvious that Sans certainly didn’t expect it either when he came back to collect you. But what you _truly_ didn’t expect was for him to full on growl at the scene; you’d never actually heard a full on one from him before, and you would be lying if the sound didn’t somewhat paralyse you. However, Mettaton had a different reaction – he laughed.

“Oh well, _hello there_ , Sans. Don’t worry, I was just saying goodbye.”

“I can _see_ that, buddy.”

He lets out another lilting laugh, before placing you back safely upon the ground, giving Sans a teasing wave, while Alphys looked on nervously, obviously not enjoying the tension. Not enjoying it either, you ignore the two of them in favour of giving Alphys a hug goodbye, which she squeaks at, not expecting it – but it does seem to help a little with her general anxiety at the scene before her, as when you pull back, she’s smiling her gentle smile once more.

“Thank you, Alphys. I can’t wait until anime night – message me ‘til then, ok?”

“O-ok! Take c-care, y/n. And u-uh, if you ever need to t-talk, I’m always here.”

You grin, nodding in confirmation, before walking up casually to Sans, who appeared a little sheepish (though you could still see him throwing Mettaton the occasional filthy look).

“You ready to go?”

“Uh….yeah, yeah, I am. Bye, Alphys, thanks for everything….. _Mettaton_.”

You feel Sans embrace you, and before you know it, you’re back in the living room – Papyrus jumps slightly, giving a ‘nyeh’ of surprise as you appear almost exactly next to him. He plants his hands on his hips, scowling at his brother, who gives a non-committal shrug and casually walks into the kitchen.

Papyrus huffs, gathering himself after the slight shock of your arrival, before giving your head a comforting pat, which you laugh at lightly, still feeling the chocolate’s effects.

“Heh, considering I now know that you’re younger than me, having you pat my head is….well, I suppose you are a lot taller than me, huh….”

“It’s a comforting motion for short people! My father and my brother used to do it to me when I was small.”

You wince slightly at being considered ‘short’ for the first time in your life (though you supposed that next to Papyrus, this would be true for most) – but then feel yourself smiling warmly, as it occurred to you that he’d been patting your head a hell of lot this evening.

“Heh, I suppose it is. Thanks, Paps.”

“No problem at all, sister! Oh, and…..should you ever need anyone to talk to, no matter the hour, no matter how small, I shall be there!”

He stands proudly, giving you an award winning smile; you smile back, before bidding him goodnight as he makes his merry way up the stairs and into his room. You then frown with a light huff, making your way into the kitchen; it was unlike Sans not to say goodnight to his brother.

You freeze at the archway when you see he’s standing with his head…..

….under the tap.

“Uh…. _water_ you doing?”

There’s a violent spluttering noise as he jumps, spraying you slightly with water as he turns in your direction sharply. The pause is deep and seemingly unending while he processes what had happened, before he shakily replies.

“I’m…. _current_ _ly_ embarrassing myself?”

You chuckle, walking into the kitchen to lean up against the wall as he dries his face off with his sleeve, while you wiped your own face off with your own.

“Sorry for splashing you.”

“No problem. But seriously, what were you doing?”

“….I was literally trying to cool off.”

You openly laugh, which he grumbles at, blushing furiously while you calm yourself.

“Heh, did Mettaton get you that _steamed_?”

“Oh _dam…_.heh, but yeah, kinda. I would say he gets under my skin, buuuut….”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

You poke at his side, which he frowns at, and counters by poking your cheek.

“Hey!”

“You started it.”

You both laugh good naturedly, putting aside the poking battle for the time being; Sans sighs gently, sliding down the wall space next to you until he was sat on the floor – you slide down to sit next to him.

“….you really scared me, y’know. I was so worried that you’d just….”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean -”

“Nah, don’t apologise. I just….I just want you to know that I’m here. Same as you’re here for me. And I, uh, I do want to talk to you about…..all that stuff that makes me, uh….at some point. But it’s….”

“….don’t worry about it. I’ll be here whenever you’re ready to talk about it. I’m not going anywhere; especially if you guys have anything to do with it.”

He chuckles, if not a little humourlessly at the grim connotations, allowing his head to fall back against the wall with a light thump.

“Make sure that you are…..there, I mean. I don’t think I’d know what to do without my pun buddy.”

You laugh softly, feeling a blush gather at your cheeks at the way he’d said what he’d said, even though the words had been casual; you could tell that the meaning wasn’t – knowing that you meant that much was a new sensation, something you’d never got to experience up on the surface. Though it seemed that since you’d fallen down here, that was all you were experiencing – first with Gaster and Toriel, with all the inhabitants of the Ruins; and now with the monsters of Snowdin, Mettaton, Alphys, Papyrus…..and Sans. You place a hand softly over where your soul lay, smiling to yourself – it was….such a wonderful, warm feeling.

“Hey, you ok? It….doesn’t hurt….yeah?”

You’re brought back from your thoughts by Sans staring worriedly at you; again, he hadn’t really asked, it was more a statement than anything else.

“I’m ok, don’t worry…..but you already knew that….didn’t you? How….how did you know?”

Sans lets out a huff, fidgeting slightly against the wall, his eye-lights narrowing a little in size.

“I, uh…. _whew_.”

“You did say that you’d tell me.”

“I did, I will….just….don’t think bad about me for it when I do, ok? I’ll try to explain what I….what I _can_ explain at the moment….uh, look, just know that I’ll explain a little better at a later date, ok? There’s just….a lot that I just can’t say at the moment.”

Your brow puckers a little in confusion at that; but it was as good as you were going to get, it seemed. Some information was better than none, after all. Still, you knew that you could trust Sans – he would reveal all eventually.

“….ok?”

He gathers himself, letting out another huffed breath, before turning to you, his eye-lights pin-pricked in their worry and focus.

 

“Down here, I’m something called a ‘Judge’.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gasp* Sans is actually giving out information?!....or is he •̀.̫•́✧  
> In other news: despite it all, Papyrus is still the sweetest of sunshines. ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` )
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	30. All About Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we have a talk with Sans....and Gaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

“A….Judge?”

“Yeah. Uh….so, you know how in battle, you can see a monster’s stats, and a small line of description?”

“Yup?”

“And you also know that you can’t see that outside of battle, right?”

“….uh-huh?”

“Well, there are…..some special monsters that can see that type of thing. Outside of battle, I mean – if they concentrate. But that’s only a few.”

You vaguely remember Gaster and Toriel mentioning something on this subject; but for now, you keep that information to yourself to give Sans a chance explain himself.

“….and you’re one of them?”

“...yes, but in my case, it’s slightly different. Ok, so what do you know about EXP and LV?”

“Oh, you know, I’ve not actually learnt the abbreviations for them….I mean, considering that HP stands for ‘HoPe’ when I thought it was ‘Health Points’?”

Sans chuckles, giving you a bemused look, even if his eye-lights were still carefully watching your reactions, his worry obvious.

“Well…..you’re probably not going to like this, but LV stands for ‘Level of Violence’ and EXP for ‘Execution Points’ - basically, for your capacity to hurt another….how easy it is for you to distance yourself….from yourself. And how many people or monsters….you’ve killed.”

“Oh wow….you’re right, that’s really not…..nice. But I can’t see those?”

“You’ve not been in enough battles yet, don’t worry about it – you just need to get used to it, it can be a ‘lil tricky.”

“I remember you saying that I didn’t have….either of those?”

“Yeah. I was surprised you didn’t ask at the time, to be honest, given how curious you are, heh – but it’s a good thing. I mean, surprising, but good.”

“Why surprising?”

“Well, even some monsters have some capacity for violence; but that’s….that’s only when they’re forced to, like with the war. Nobody should actually _want_ to hurt someone, if they don’t need to – that’s kind of what I’m here for….well, my job is, anyways.”

“So if a monster doesn’t usually do that kind of thing...”

“Yeah. I’m the first sentry for a reason; I’m supposed to warn the Underground if a human comes through. But I’m also the only one able to immediately read their EXP and LV, along with their intentions, so….yeah.”

“And you can tell that?”

“Well, you know I said about some monsters being able to see HP and description? I can see it all.”

“….that’s pretty cool. And useful, I mean.”

Sans slumps against the wall with a slight huff.

“What?”

“Oh man, I really can throw anything at you, can’t I…...you’re too nice, y/n.”

“What?! I mean, it’s true! It’s a useful skill! I mean, frankly, with all your useful talents, you’re making me feel slightly inadequate, buddy!”

Sans chuckles lightly, scratching at his gently blushing cheek.

“Heh, I mean….people usually get a little freaked out when you can read ‘em like that.”

“Yeah, but….I don’t have anything to hide? Not in that sense, anyway.”

He snorts, giving you a slightly incredulous look.

“You really are something, huh….”

“I’m _me_! Anyway, what does my description say? I’ve kinda always been curious about that…?”

“Uh….it’s different for everyone who sees you.”

“Ok….what did you see me as?”

“Um….I can’t remember, to be honest….”

You watch as he shifts uncomfortably against the wall, humming to yourself, before letting out a soft sigh.

“...that bad, huh?”

“No! No, it wasn’t bad. It isn’t bad, I mean.”

You roll your eyes, tutting slightly – obviously this was part of the ‘later date’ subjects. Ignoring your frustrations, you instead turn to look at him slyly.

“Yours said you only take off 1 HP when you hit.”

“….what, seriously?”

“Mmm-hmm. Guess that means you don’t want hurt me, even if you do hit me, huh?”

He chuckles awkwardly, sticking his tongue out at you as a reply.

“I mean, I already know you’re a lot stronger than that, so….”

“Wait, what?”

“C’mon man, you can teleport, you can make stuff float off wherever you want – must be crazy strong!”

Now it’s his time to roll his eye-lights, shaking his head, neither confirming nor dis confirming your statement, leaving you vaguely satisfied; the majority of the time getting information out of Sans was like getting water out of a stone.

“Anyway, being able to see things like that….it comes with a….vague ability of sensing what the person you’re looking at is feeling. And I….just happen to be in tune with you, I guess, since we’re together a lot.”

You notice him shifting with discomfort once more as he spoke; there was definitely more to it than what he was saying, but since he wasn’t willing to open up about it, you don’t push him – you trusted him to tell you when he was ready, and you weren’t the kind of person to try to force the issue.

“Hmm….that’s pretty cool, as well. And I mean, it was definitely useful tonight, huh?”

Sans hums in agreement, looking slightly solemn, before you elbow his side softly, which he returned with a gentle huff of amusement.

“Anyways, we should probably get to bed….I mean, after everything that’s happened….I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired.”

“Yup, _bone tired_ over here too, bud. So, uh….you’re not kidnapping me tonight, right?”

You blush furiously, standing up with a huff and stalking to the bathroom, leaving Sans’ echoing laughter in your wake. What you didn’t see was his expression as you walked away; one of shame. An expression one only pulls when hiding something of extreme importance.

 

~

 

_Looking around the darkness of the Void, you had to admit – you felt hesitant. You didn’t want to see any kind of negative emotions from Gaster over your actions, even if you hadn’t intended to crack your soul; in fact, even the thought that your soul could crack was driving your mind a little haywire. The amount of times you’d felt that same crushing pain back on the surface when something bad happened….it sent a shiver down you spine, as you remembered the amount of hairline fractures your soul already had. All those times you’d been injured in such a horrific way…..and you hadn’t even been aware of it._

“ _Y/n?”_

_You jolt slightly and weave your body to turn around in the inky matter of the Void; Gaster was directly behind you, his expression unreadable._

“… _.hey there, Dings.”_

“ _Y/n….”_

_You wince, waiting for the inevitable hammer to fall._

“… _.you are well and truly loved, aren’t you?”_

“ _...huh?”_

“ _Your friends, and your new family, y/n. They adore you – and I’m sure you feel much the same. Which is why you feel guilt, is it not?”_

_You nod, sniffling slightly._

“… _.please, y/n. Do not be a fool like me. Life is far too precious a thing, even when it seems as if it’s endless – it can be ripped away in a fraction of a second. You should not think like…..even if, in your mind, it’s for the greater good…..y/n, sadness and grief never paved a good way for success. You wouldn’t be granting anyone a happy ending that way – true, it’s the easiest of methods; but as a scientist, I’ve always thought that the easiest way is often the least palatable. Have faith, my dear – put your faith in your friends, as I’m sure they put their faith in you. At least….I do.”_

_He smiles at you, chuckling with a fond softness when you give him a hug, still sniffling slightly._

“ _Thank you, Gaster. You….and everyone else….I don’t know what I did to deserve such wonderful beings in my life.”_

“ _I’m sure you simply did what you have always done; and that is something, from my point of view at least, that is well deserving of happiness. Now, about your results?”_

_You rub your eyes hurriedly, pulling away from the vague hug._

“ _Y-yeah. It’s weird, right? I mean, how can my level be that high?”_

_Gaster hums quietly to himself, and you can practically see his mind ticking away._

“ _I do have my theories, but it will require far more tests….more than what the good Dr. Alphys and….Sans….are suggesting. But the question is, how to make them perform such tests without rousing their suspicions...”_

“ _I could….just ask them?”_

_Gaster frowns slightly at this, shaking his head._

“ _My dear, it would seem very strange indeed for you to suddenly come out with tests you have no knowledge of. No….no! I think I have an idea.”_

_You sigh gently; it was a pity he didn’t want people to know of his existence as of yet – it would have been far more convenient. But you were true to your word, as ever._

“ _I believe I have seen a book that Sans has – and there are more at the library, should you ever want to read up, but the book he has will do nicely. It should be directly at the bottom of the book pile in the living room – it’s titled, ‘Of Soul Matter and Magic’….if you pose as if you’re reading the novel, and say you’d read of the tests within, it should work….I mean, it’s a good idea, no?”_

_You chuckle slightly, remembering what he’d said about easy routes; perhaps his personality quirks just appreciated difficulty._

“ _Sounds like a plan, Dings – plus, it would be nice to read up a little about the subject; it’s a pretty cool thing. What are the tests called?”_

“ _Well, the first is called a ‘molecular attributes’ test; it is basically a test to see which of what we call the ‘core’ emotions are present.”_

“ _But I thought I had them all on an even level?”_

“ _Yes, but I thought that this test would just confirm that – I always believed a basic scan to be a little unpredictable at times. The second is called a ‘toxicity test’; it measures the negative emotions scale.”_

“… _.okaaay, that one sounds a little….sketchy.”_

“ _It’s painless, I assure you.”_

“ _Not what I meant! I mean, negativity is generally a bad thing, right?!”_

“… _.my dear, even the best of us hide a multitude of sins, be it anything from having a short temper to hating an individual being or object. There is a fine balance with these kinds of things, after all.”_

“ _...hmm…..so what would that test be for?”_

“ _If anything, it would be a test to help with your….HP level. A loss of HoPe can be due to many things, my dear.”_

_You huff solemnly, before nodding for him to continue._

“… _.and lastly, I believe….well, this one would be the riskiest to take, next to a scrape test. In fact, it’s actually called a ‘risk’ test.”_

“ _...so the name already kind of suggests it’s something fun.”_

“ _Well….indeed. I believe you’re already going to be having an ‘attack physical’; it’s quite similar, in a way. An attack physical is simply seeing how a soul reacts to a battle situation – it doesn’t involve any danger. A ‘risk’ test, however, is a test to see how the soul reacts to an attack; direct damage.”_

“… _.and you think this would be a good idea, because…?”_

“ _I don’t. It would be a last resort test, along with the scrape test. And I would want you to suggest it as such; it would be -”_

“ _\- too much of a risk?”_

_He chuckles lightly, nodding._

“ _Well, ok then….committing those to the memory bank….molecular attributes…..toxicity….and risk. Ok. I think I got it.”_

“ _And the book is, ‘Of Soul Matter and Magic’ - he has many, many books, so remember that is the particular title.”_

_You giggle at his nagging, nodding to confirm that you’ll do just that; he relaxes a little, seeing this._

_Suddenly your soul gives that strange tugging sensation that you’d felt before, and you grumble, rubbing at the spot while Gaster expresses concern; you cut him off before he can get too panicked._

“ _It’s ok – it’s not like the….soul pain. This is….different.”_

“ _Different how, my dear?”_

“ _It’s like….a tugging? I don’t know, it’s weird. It’s happened before – you know, that time when I was more or less yanked out of here?”_

_Gaster hums in thought for a moment, before he stops; his face literally freezing. You wave your spare hand (that wasn’t rubbing at the annoying tugging) in front of his face, half worrying about him, half feeling amused that he’d just stopped so suddenly._

“ _Hello? Earth to Dings, do you copy?”_

_He shakes himself, then looks at you with an expression of absolute surprise, still staying silent; you withdraw your hand gingerly._

“ _Uh….you….got any ideas?”_

“ _I do…..but….I would rather see what the other tests reveal first, my dear. This is not an idea to be played with.”_

“… _..okaaay then. Uh, I’ll just….be going then?”_

_You wave goodbye, still laughing awkwardly; Gaster rouses himself a little out of his weird zone, giving you his usual gentle smile and a casual wave back._

 

~

 

You awake with a slight gasp, a hand still upon your chest, just as it had been within the Void. You grumble, rubbing both at the spot, and at your tired eyes. Sighing in resignation, you swing your legs out of bed, and quietly pad your way in the darkness to your door, opening it warily. All seemed quiet in the house; aside from the obvious snoring of Papyrus. You giggle softly at this, shutting your door just as softly as you made your quiet way down the stairs. You head into the kitchen, flicking on the light, before stopping as your thoughts catch up with your feet.

You hum to yourself softly, before nodding decidedly, heading over to the book pile; a bit of reading might just settle yourself enough for some more sleep. You gently place books aside as you search for your prize, noting a few others that definitely struck your interest – a book on astrophysics, and another on geology, as well as a huge amount of excellent fictions. However, at last, you found what you’d been looking for - ‘Of Soul Matter and Magic’. Grinning to yourself in triumph, you scurry back to the kitchen, sliding down the wall to the floor, where you curled up around the peeling pages with glee.

You skim through the pages at first, noting sections on the tests Gaster had mentioned – they were exactly as described, but the process for each was certainly interesting.

 

_The most accurate testing of base traits is to view a soul while undertaking a ‘molecular attributes’ exam; the patient will be administered with a serum that puts the soul through certain ‘trails’. How the patient reacts to these situations will be analysed with a scanner (see page 206), giving a clearer view of balances._

 

_The toxicity exam, though being viewed as unnecessary by the majority of the scientific community, is no doubt useful in the sense of trait balance and HP understanding. A coated scanner with a field, however, is needed for the test to be performed accurately (see page 300) – but with this tool in place, the test is one of the most simplistic to undertake, taking all of 10 minutes to scan a soul._

 

_The risk test, while being unpleasant for the majority, can give true understanding where matters of magic and latent magic within a soul is under question. Simple pad scanners are attached to the patient (see page 207), at all three vital points (see page 109), whilst an attack takes place – how hard of an attack is circumstantial. Reaction is to be measured by both scanner and observer._

 

You grumble to yourself softly as your soul gives another annoying tug; but at least it didn’t hurt. You wished you knew how to take out your soul, so you could have a quick look at how the crack was doing – but this book didn’t have knowledge on such a task, sadly. Experiments and general information on how souls worked, however, it had in plentiful amounts. You read for another good ten minutes, studying diagrams to better understand how magic travelled throughout a body, and how the soul itself had several layers to it; with each trait, making up a person’s being. This, of course, only brought about more confusion for you, as you could now see how Alphys and Sans were so puzzled; your soul having more than one equal trait was literally impossible, as it shouldn’t have a stable structure, given previous examples within this book. And yet, here you were, healthy as you could be (apart from the cracks and HP level, of course).

You yelp softly, almost throwing the book across the room as your soul gives a particularity hard jerk; it seemed almost angry at your relaxed reading, as if it was incessant about you doing something, though you weren’t sure what.

You look down at the centre of your chest suspiciously, not wishing to be surprised again – but when you felt no further activity, you sighed in a satisfied manner, going back to your book and thumbing your way back to the page you’d been reading, which contained information on different soul colour combinations.

And you would have read on quite happily, had you not been rudely interrupted by Sans materialising in the centre of the kitchen, looking completely worn out. You both shriek slightly in reaction at seeing one another unexpectedly; this time, the book really did fly out of your hands, almost hitting Sans in the process, had he not dodged with expert skill.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to literally throw the book at you!”

“Heh…. _oh man_. You gave me quite the fright, bud. What’cha reading?”

He stoops to pick up the book, his brow bone arching in your direction when he holds up the book in question.

“Oh, well, I couldn’t sleep, ‘cause, uh, my stupid soul was doing that stupid tugging thing, so I came down here, and decided to read….and found it? And I was curious?”

Sans snorted lightly with laughter, shaking his head.

“Heh, ok then….”

He joins you on the floor, still holding the book, chuckling.

“Oh man, I almost forgot I had this old thing. Heh. So, uh, your soul was….tugging?”

“Yeah….was until a minute ago, anyway. Weird, huh? I mean, I don’t think it has anything to do with….the crack, you know? It’s not the same feeling. It’s more like….I’m being literally pulled towards something, but I just don’t know what….gah, I’m so sorry, I’m just really tired and talking nonsense.”

You laugh awkwardly, rubbing your eyes in an effort to wake your brain up a little more, before hesitantly looking at Sans; he’s only frowning gently, looking down at the book in his hands.

“Sans? Are you ok?”

He looks back at you quickly, before giving you his usual easy smile.

“Yeah. Just a bad dream; no big deal. What were you reading about?”

“Oh! Actually, I think I came up with...some tests that would be useful?”

You wince inwardly at the slight lie – Sans turns a little more to you, his eyes lighting up in interest.

“Which ones?”

“Um….a molecular attribute test…..you know, to see if the scan was accurate….uh….the toxicity test, to see if that can help out with…..um….HP stuff…..and….oh man, please don’t take this bad? It’s kind of a last resort thing, but….the risk test?”

Sans had been nodding along thoughtfully with what you were saying up until the risk test, where his eye-lights instantly narrowed down to pin-pricks in obvious dislike.

“No way! Your HP is way too low for something like that – I mean, for an ordinary monster, something like that is a last resort, but for you-”

“Yeah, I knew you wouldn’t like it….I don’t either. It was just an idea, if nothing else works….ok? But the others are….good?”

Sans hums gently, before nodding, smiling tiredly.

“Yup, they’re good. I mean, I think we should have the tests we’ve already decided on first, as they all take a while to set up….but it would give some interesting info, that’s for sure.”

You smile back at him (you’re almost certain as tiredly), before sighing softly, getting his attention.

“So….wanna talk about it?”

He immediately knows that you’re referring to his dream; he gulps nervously, his fists automatically clenching as he thought about it – you place a hand over one such fist, your expression one of concern as he smiles at you with that same exhausted expression. Even if he’d slept well for the last two nights, there was nothing like a bad nightmare to send you straight back into exhaustion.

“I, uh….I dreamt that….everyone hated me. They blamed me for not helping them, when they….when they needed it. And then it was the same as ever, with everyone….dying.”

His hand clenched a little harder underneath yours, and you knew he wasn’t telling the full story.

“….there’s more, isn’t there?”

“….you were there, too. And I’ve….I’ve never seen that before.”

“I hated you, too?”

“N-no….you were at the end. You….I couldn’t save you.”

His expression was blank, but given how hard his fist was clenched, you knew that he was trying desperately to keep his emotions in check; you grumbled slightly, before worming your fingers in between his to hold his hand, getting his attention back to you and out of his head and that horrible nightmare.

“I’m here. And I’m sure….if there was a situation like that, I’d be fighting alongside you to save everyone. You wouldn’t be alone. I’d be there, just like I am now.”

He laughs, albeit slightly bitterly, still smiling at you with that tired smile. You grumble, before standing up determinedly, dragging him with you.

“Y/n, what the -”

“Come on.”

You snatch up the book, placing it back on the pile as you dragged him through the living room, making your way up the stairs – though he kept whispering out protesting noises, you noticed smugly that he hadn’t once tried to let go of your hand; he probably knew that when you were determined like this, there wasn’t much to be done.

Finally, you reached your room; you more or less threw him inside (albeit quietly, though you were pretty sure that Papyrus slept like the more than literal dead), shutting the door behind you, before standing victorious. Sans snorted slightly in reaction, his mood much improved (which had been your aim), as you walked around him to throw yourself upon your squishy bed with a satisfied noise.

“Hey, I thought you said that you weren’t going to kidnap me tonight?”

“One: _rude_. Two: you said that, not me.”

“Heh, guess that’s true….”

With a resigned sigh, he flops down next to you, turning to you with a gentle frown.

“But in all seriousness….I can’t just keep imposing on you like this, y/n. I mean, you need your sleep too, and-”

“Gonna stop you right there, buddy. I….I actually sleep better with you here, too. You’re forgetting, my dreams aren't exactly nice, either. I mean, I know, you probably want your own bed-”

“To be honest, your bed is much comfier. Wasn’t kidding when I said I would steal it.”

“I’m going to ignore that statement sir, and be grateful that I do. Ok, well, you probably want to be in your own room, but….for the time being, do you wanna just have a load of sleepovers, so we both sleep better? Then we might just stop having nightmares all together, you know? Then it’ll be back to crappy Sans bed for you.”

“Wow, rude. You’re hurting my poor mattress’ feelings.”

“I’m sure it’ll _spring_ back in no time. Anyway, what do you think?”

Sans chuckles softly, before looking down at his hands, his brow puckered as his gaze gradually trails its way back up to you warily.

“You….you don’t have to. I mean, you _must_ be bothered by it….”

“Why would I be? Like I said; it’s like a sleepover.”

He sniggers at this.

“I don’t think you can have a sleepover when you both live in the same house, bud.”

“Sure you can! Don’t make me bring this up with Papyrus; you know I’ll win.”

He sniggers again, holding up his hands in defeat while you quietly cheer in victory.

“Ok….ok. I mean, as long as it doesn’t bother you.”

“Like I said! I’ll be getting just as much out of it as you are. But, uh, if you’re uncomfortable with it at any point, feel free to go back to your room; I mean, it’s literally next door, sooo….”

Sans yawns, snuggling down into the covers a little more, his expression groggy as he waved a hand dismissively – it was an obvious ‘talk about it tomorrow, sleep now’. You chuckle softly, following his actions, getting yourself comfortable under the soft layers of duvet, before letting out a contented noise.

 

 

“Goodnight, Sans.”

“….goodnight, y/n.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *fake science is the best science >:)*  
> Welp, get ready for some constant bed sharing. 'cause that's what we're doing. Yup. >.>
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	31. The First Shift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we discover what working at Grillby's is all about....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

The rest of the weekend and Monday went by blissfully uneventful; each day was spent at the station post with Sans, lazily throwing puns at each other and asking random questions whenever the need took hold. You would end work as early as ever, reading solidly for a good four hours; changing it up between fiction and books of a more scientific variety. Speaking of science, you had texted Alphys to let her know about ‘your’ test ideas; she had followed Sans’ example of approving of everything apart from the risk test – and you couldn’t blame her, given the dangerous implications.

You and Papyrus decided to work on dinner together one night, creating a delicious lasagne (the prediction of ‘flat spaghetti’ came true, much to your and Sans’ amusement) - all in all, you were settling into your new life in Snowdin well, a fact that Toriel was more than happy with when you phoned her Tuesday morning as another batch of muffins were cooking for breakfast.

“Oh my child, I’m so happy. I was worried when you left the safety of the Ruins, but I have to say it’s more than a relief to know you’re having such a good time.”

“It’s nice to know I have so many friends in the world, I have to admit. Oh, I forgot to say – I got a job!”

“Y/n! My goodness, why did you not tell me this sooner? Congratulations!”

“Heh, thanks….I’m sorry, I honestly did forget.”

You’d neglected to tell her about your soul cracking incident as well, though that was of course, purposeful; it wasn’t something to discuss over the phone, after all.

“Well, these muffins are just about finished! I’ll have to press Papyrus about coming to see you; I’m sure the both of you would love it.”

“I’m sure we would, my child. Please, do be safe….and come to visit us all soon.”

“I will! See you soon, mum.”

“See you soon!”

You hang up, sighing contentedly – you snag the oven mittens and slide your tray of oat and caramel muffins out of the oven, grinning proudly at the delicious result, before placing them all onto the cooling rack as fast as humanly possible; you knew how impatient Sans was when it came to such things, after all.

Papyrus was sitting in the living room, meticulously polishing his armoured breastplate – it was admittedly the first time you’d seen him in a t-shirt (and something other than his armour; you had to assume that he always changed in his room….unless he also slept in his armour). It was a pretty simple one, too; a large, white cotton t-shirt with the words ‘cool dude’ scrolled across it – very apt, in your mind.

“The muffins are done; they’re just cooling off.”

“Well, sister, they smell wonderful – thank you very much for making them!”

“No problem at all; I love cooking for you guys. What’s on the agenda for you today, then?”

“I’ll be training with Undyne for the first half of the day – then I’ll be doing laps around all the stations!”

You inwardly shudder at the amount of excessive exercise, more than glad that you weren’t subject to it.

“Ah, I see. Well, as far as Grillby’s told me, my shift will be from 6pm to 8pm….which isn’t too bad! My hours on Friday will be much later, in the uh….rush hour? Well, he said it would be busier, anyway….from 9pm until 11pm? Which is closing time, I _think_ ….”

Papyrus winces at this, throwing you a look of sympathy.

“Poor sister. I can guard you, if you wish?”

You laugh, not quite understanding his concern.

“Oh, it can’t be that bad, surely! Plus, I’ll have Grillby with me.”

“It’s the party hour! Noise and…..excessive drinking. Urgh.”

You laugh at his utter disgust (and the fact he was put off by noise considering his almost constant booming tone), before looking over at his polishing work.

“Wow, it’s looking so smart, Paps!”

“But of course! I must look my best for the Royal Guard.”

You frown a little, painfully aware that he was finally clued up to the whole ‘taking human souls’ thing, which he notices, gently placing his gleaming armour upon his knees with a sigh.

“I’ve not spoken to Undyne about... _that_ yet, if that’s what you’re thinking. I feel as if….at this point, it would have little value. But! Do not fret, I will not bend with my ideals, sister.”

You chuckle softly, smiling at him warmly, before inspiration suddenly strikes; you head back into the kitchen and fetch him a few muffins in a bag, which he looks at with slight confusion – but you cut him off before he can question it.

“Uh, it’s for you...and Undyne. I know she doesn’t know I’m human, or anything like that….but you can say your friend made them as a gift. Sorry, I just thought-”

Now it’s your time to get cut off, as Papyrus leaps up and hugs you tightly, making you almost drop the muffin bag in surprise.

“Y/n, you are a genius! Of course, the best way for Undyne to appreciate what a cool friend you are….will be with _food_!”

“Wait, what?”

“Undyne loves to cook! So if she knows that you also love such things, surely she will begin to like you, even if she does not know you!”

You wheeze out a laugh as Papyrus is still hugging you tight; he lets go, obviously remembering your need to breathe.

“Well, it’s as good a plan as any, I guess...”

He makes a happy ‘nyeh’ sound, before rushing into the bathroom with his armour (obviously to change), and rushing back out, snagging the bag, giving you another quick thanks and rushing out in excitement – leaving you to unsuccessfully cover your laughter at his exuberance.

You snag another two muffins on a plate (one for yourself, one for Sans), before heading up the stairs to your now shared room; though you were thankful that Sans kept his trademark clutter to his own space.

It was working out well, as odd agreements went; sleep now came easy to the both of you, and even though it had only been two nights, you were already feeling more alert than you were sure you had ever felt. It was lucky that you were so comfortable with each other; there was no sense of awkwardness whatsoever. Just two beings that needed some decent sleep for once.

Upon opening the door, you saw that Sans was sat up in bed; he smiled sleepily as you entered, then smiled wider at the sight of the two muffins on the plate you were carrying.

“Oh man, I knew I smelt something amazing.”

“Yup – but don’t binge on them too much. I meant it, you know, when I said you might turn into one.”

“And I would be delicious if I did so.”

You laugh softly, rolling your eyes, handing over the plate as you dug through your top drawer for some suitable clothes; you’d already gotten dressed for the day (a black sweater and some dark blue jeans; simple, but warm), but you wanted to find something that would be work worthy.

“One of those are for me, by the way.”

“Aw.”

“But there are plenty more in the kitchen….”

He makes a pleased noise; you’re not sure if it’s the thought that there are more that caused it, or if it’s the fact that he’s just bitten into his designated muffin – perhaps it was both.

“Hey, what would you say would be good to wear for my first shift?”

“Hmm...well, I’ll ‘port you there and back, so you don’t have to worry ‘bout getting cold….and it’s gonna get hot with all that work, that and the fact Grillby’s is pretty warm anyway….”

“Yeah, I figured that much, but should it be causal?”

“I don’t think Grillby’ll be fussy.”

“But he wears a tux!”

“Eh, he’s always liked that kind of thing.”

“Hmm….ok, but I’m still gonna make it smarter than usual….”

You dig furiously, until finally becoming victorious in your search; you’d found your old collared white shirt and black skirt you’d worn all those months ago on the surface for your crappy job with McFlaren. You also grabbed your pumps from under the dresser to match, before laying it out to wear later. Sans watches as you do so, his face curious.

“Huh. It’ll be….different seeing you in something like that.”

“I imagine it will! But you know what would be truly shocking?”

“….what?”

“You in a suit.”

“Nah, that would be too _tux_ ing.”

The two of you giggle stupidly as you get yourselves ready for the day ahead.

 

~

 

“Text me when you’re done, ok?”

“Heh, will do – I swear, you look more worried than me! I’ll be fine; you know Grillby’ll look after me.”

Sans shifts a little uncomfortably, giving you a gentle smile despite his obvious worries.

“Yeah, I know. Ready?”

Both he and Papyrus had looked more than a little surprised at upon seeing you in your work attire; after all, they’d only ever seen you in jeans and t-shirts since you’d been living there. Papyrus had been most complimentary (though he did think that your ‘costume’ needed a little more colour), but Sans had surprised you with the fact that he seemed to not quite know what to say – he’d ended up giving you a vague thumbs up and a peculiar smile. But you felt that you were ready, and you at least looked smart; hopefully your new employer would approve – it was nice, knowing that your new boss was also your friend.

“As ready as I’ll ever be!”

The world shifts around you as the two of you teleport, and before you know it, you’re stood at the entrance of Grillby’s – thankfully indoors, as being outside in the snow in a skirt would not be the smartest of ideas. Sans winks at you encouragingly before quickly blipping out of existence and leaving you alone in the bar; it’s fairly empty, the only customers here thus far were the dripping fish monster and Johan, the hamster monster you’d helped with the jukebox on your last visit – he was happily picking out songs for it to play.

Straightening your shoulders, you walk up to the bar with as much confidence as you could muster, smiling and waving to Grillby as you spot him emerging from his ‘fire escape’ door.

“Ah! Y/n, you’re right on time. Let me show you what you’ll be doing around here.”

He gestures for you to come behind the bar, which you do, curiously taking in the change of perspective. You follow Grillby as he leads you back through the ‘fire escape’, revealing a smart kitchen – polished steel work tops and enormous ovens abound.

“Oh wow, so this is where the magic happens?”

Grillby’s flames spark in amusement as he leads you through the kitchen to a small room with a faded pink couch; obviously a staff break room – with a small bathroom attached, which was much appreciated on your part.

“Indeed. So, your job itself is fairly simple; taking orders, and serving the costumers. If you feel you need a break at any point, just inform me, and relax for a spell in the break room before you feel ready to help again, alright?”

“Oh wow, that’s uh…thank you. I’ll work as hard as I can, don’t worry!”

He chuckles, his expression fond, before the two of you walk back out to the bar; he hands you a small notepad and pen for when the costumers do eventually file in.

“So, how are you, dear one?”

“I’m ok, thanks! Is my, uh….uniform alright?”

Grillby looks you over, before nodding politely – then it seems something occurs to him as he laughs gently, his flames crackling, and reaches into his pocket.

“Please stay still for a moment, y/n.”

You do so, as he reaches down to gently tie something into the collar of your shirt; as he finishes, you reach up to deftly inspect whatever it was with your fingertips – it’s a small silk bow-tie, identical to his. You let out a soft laugh – at least the official uniform had some taste.

“There we are, perfect. Now, in about 30 minutes we’ll have our regulars; you know them well. Dogamy, Dogaressa, Doggo, Lesser Dog and Greater Dog – they have a habit of playing poker in the corner every night after work. They will more likely than not ask for several orders of fries and a few glasses of water; I would be most grateful if you dealt with the latter – as you can see, water and I are not the best of friends.”

You nod seriously, making a note of the water tip in your book – helping Grillby was your number one aim, after all.

“And also, something incredibly important….”

He meets your gaze with a grave seriousness, while you look tensely back, preparing to write down whatever it was.

“….when working, one must have fun. Relax, y/n – you’re not on trial.”

You blush foolishly, whilst Grillby releases any tension with a warm chuckle.

“Heh, sorry…..my last job wasn’t really the best, I guess. Come to think of it, this is already proving to be the best I’ve ever had...”

“What did you do in your last employment?”

“Oh, it was….I had to make phone calls offering a really shoddy product – then when people realised how shoddy the product was, I had to deal with the people phoning to complain. Barrel of laughs, really.”

“It sounds it. What was your last boss like?”

“….he wasn’t a nice person, not even a little bit. Had a love of manipulating to get what he ‘desired’; and vowed to make my life ‘hell’ when I didn’t give him….what he wanted.”

Grillby’s flames leapt angrily at the unsaid ‘want’ of McFarlen’s, his mouth threatening a slight snarl, but he soon calmed himself, his expression smoothing out into his gentle familiarity; you blink in slight surprise at the display, but otherwise don’t react. After all, it was a perfectly reasonable thing to be angry about.

“Y/n, you needn’t worry – you are among friends here.”

You smile softly, giving his arm a pat, feeling an inward amusement when you didn’t get burnt; though you had to note he was a lot warmer than a normal being.

“I know. It’s just bad habit, don’t worry – I’ll stop being on edge pretty soon. Is there anything that needs to be done in the meantime, before everyone arrives?”

Grillby makes a thoughtful noise, before his flames spark with a sudden realisation.

“Ah! Yes, I suppose we could give the place a little clean – not that it needs it particularly, but it’s always good to be on top of such things, no?”

“Heh, sure is.”

“You’ll be able to find a broom in the break room; I’ll take the task of scrubbing down the tables and bar.”

You nod, leaping into action; well, very relaxed action. Sweeping the floors wasn’t all that stressful a thing, after all – especially when Johan spotted you working and decided to follow you around, making conversation; though it was mostly him raving about music.

“It has everything, ‘lil miss! I never thought a machine could have all my favourite tunes in one place – it’s totally rad.”

“I’m glad to hear it! So you’ve set up a kind of playlist for this evening, then?”

“Totally man! It’s gonna be awesome.”

You huff slightly as you sweep under a slightly awkward corner of a table, then look around, feeling quite satisfied with your work – well, the floors were clean, in any case.

And it seemed it was just in time; as the doors suddenly opened, letting in a little frigid air – then there was a sudden series of loud barks, announcing the arrival of the Snowdin dogs. It was all the warning you received before you were bowled over once again by Lesser Dog and Greater Dog – Johan skilfully avoided the scene, while you just about managed to hold down you skirt, so you could at least avoid that embarrassment.

“Well, hello there, you two!”

You receive happy yaps in return and wiggling tails thumping against the wooden (and obviously now, very clean) flooring. Grillby merely crossed his arms amusedly from behind the bar while you furiously petted your lap’s occupants; he looked over to the other canine Royal Guards.

“You do realise that y/n works here, now? Bowling her over upon arrival, while welcoming, isn’t helping my professional image.”

They all share a laugh, the dogs in your lap also yapping in an imitation of laughter as they allowed you to stand back up; you wiped a few stray dogs hairs off your skirt, giving Lesser Dog a final pat – you’d been avoiding petting him too much, in order not to repeat the whole giraffe scene. You hop gently from foot to foot when the others approach, in order to allow Doggo to see you.

“Congratulations on...”

“...the job, y/n!”

“Thank you! How are you all?”

“Heh, not too bad kid, not too bad. Want us to order with you now, while we go set up at the table?”

“Oh, uh, yes, that would be great! Um….”

You look over to Grillby, who raises a flame eyebrow in question.

“Do I need a spiel, or something? Like, ‘welcome to Grillby’s, what can I get you?’….you know, something like that?”

Grillby lets out a bemused chuckle, scrubbing the bar at a particular spot that obviously wasn’t bowing to his perfect standards.

“Do whatever you feel is necessary, y/n; I must admit, it might be a nice touch.”

You grin, turning back to the expectant dogs.

“Well then! Welcome to Grillby’s, may I take you order?”

“Heh, nice kiddo. We’ll take three orders of fries and five glasses of water.”

“On it. Please, take a seat and I’ll be back with you in a moment.”

You head back to the bar, while Grillby smiles at you appreciatively.

“Very well put, y/n.”

“Hehe, thank you. Well, that was three orders of fries, then – and I’ll get the water.”

Grillby leads the way back into the kitchen, where he directs you to where the glasses were (polished to perfection – he really did have immaculate standards), along with the server’s trays. As you start to load up the water order, you suddenly become completely distracted as Grillby begins to chop up potatoes for the fryer – the precision and speed was something you’d never seen before; not even the greatest of human chefs would have been able to compete.

“Holy crap….”

He stops for a spell, then upon seeing your shock, starts up again with a gentle chuckle, the barest hint of pink flames upon his face.

“Many years of practise, my dear.”

You finish up with the water order, placing each of the glasses onto the tray carefully, before picking it up and gently guiding yourself to the dog’s table (in order not to spill anything).

“Ok guys, here’s your water – the fries will be here soon.”

You receive words and yaps of thanks in return as you hand out the glasses, before making your way back behind the bar, knowing that Grillby would call for you when the order was ready; thus far, there weren’t any more customers in the bar – Johan was still completely absorbed by the jukebox (he was narrowing his already narrow eyes as he started to set it up; it made you wonder why he didn’t get himself a pair of glasses), so you made your way to the fish monster, who was still sat at the bar, dripping unpleasantly.

“Good evening sir – can I get you anything?”

The fish monster looks you up and down with bloodshot eyes, wheezing out a nasal breath.

“Sure, honey – I’ll have a pint of gold brew.”

You nod, before looking to the selection of drinks behind you, quickly spotting the tap for ‘gold brew’; luckily you’d had your share of bar jobs before up on the surface, so drawing up a pint was a skill you at least could say you had. You grab a pint glass from under the bar counter (once again, polished to perfection), and turned the tap; it smelt crisp, a little like high quality apple cider, only fruitier. Finishing up, you slide it over to the monster, before realising you didn’t know what the price was.

“Oh, excuse me one moment sir, I’ll be back with you in just a second.”

You walk briskly back in through ‘fire escape’ (bringing your server tray with you; you knew not to leave that behind), where Grillby was starting to plate up the fries.

“Um, do you have a price list for drinks? I just drew up a pint for a costumer, that’s all.”

“Oh! I see. It’s just below the counter on the right; you’ll also find a bag for placing gold in, as well.”

“Ok then – shall I take those out, or deal with the bar order?”

“I’ll deal with the fries, don’t worry; besides, you’ll need to know the price list eventually.”

You nod and leave with a smile, returning to your bar customer; you quickly reach under the bar, finding both the bag and the laminated sheet Grillby had been talking about (you supposed paper wouldn’t really agree with him).

“Ok sir, that’ll be a grand total of 9g. Can I get you anything else?”

“No, but thank you, miss…?”

“It’s y/n.”

“Oh! Yeah, I’ve heard about you. Well, honey, it’s very nice to finally meet you.”

He winks unpleasantly as he hands over the gold; the coins are slightly slimy, but you do you best not to wrinkle your nose in reaction. The fish monster’s just about to say something else, when the double doors of the entrance open once more, revealing the red bird monster you’d often seen sat beside the fish monster – in fact, that was exactly what the bird did, nudging the fish’s side in greeting.

“Mike, buddy, you bothering y/n here?”

Mike the fish monster grumbled slightly, taking a sip of his drink – the bird stuck a wing out in greeting to you, which you shook gently, not wanting to hurt him, or his wings.

“Hey there! I’m Steve. Nice to meet you, y/n.”

“Nice to meet you too! What can I get for you?”

“Oh! You work here now? Well, I’ll have the same as my buddy Mike.”

You nod with a smile, drawing up another pint of gold brew – as you turn to slide it over, you can see Steve already has the correct gold held out ready in his wing; obviously it was his usual.

“Thanks sweet. It’s nice to see Grillby getting some help around here.”

“Well, I hope that you have a nice evening!”

You wave a quick goodbye, before heading over to a table that had just been occupied by a monster that looked a little like a giant Venus fly-trap; it looked like the shift was just starting to begin.

 

~

 

“Well, that’s the end of your shift, y/n. Good work – have you enjoyed yourself?”

You look up in surprise at Grillby as you finish putting in your latest order’s gold into the money bag – which had quickly become excessively heavy over the course of the evening.

“Wow, that certainly went by quickly….but yes! It’s been nice meeting so many new faces.”

Grillby chuckles, before reaching for the money bag and drawing out 200g; you look at him in shock, while he openly laughs at your reaction, handing you your pay.

“Grillby! This is -”

“A perfectly ordinary night’s pay, y/n. Now, I suggest you give Sans a call – it’s a very cold evening, and for me to say that after living in Snowdin for so long….”

You nod in agreement, finding yourself smiling absent-mindedly at his general kindness; you hurriedly store your money in your phone, as you didn’t have any pockets in your uniform, before dialling Sans’ number – he picks up almost immediately.

“’sup?”

“Hey! I’ve just finished my shift. Grillby demanded I call you.”

Grillby let out a lilting laugh nearby, his flames sparking as he drew up another drink for a costumer.

“Heh, glad that he did – see ya in a -”

The line garbles for a second, and you look at your phone in confusion, before you jump as a familiar voice speaks from directly behind you.

“-sec.”

“Holy shit!”

You spin around in shock, much to the amusement of the monsters around you, while Sans simply stood smugly; Grillby tutted, leaning over the bar to mock-scowl at Sans.

“Sans, please do not abuse my employees.”

“Technically, she’s off right now, so I shall do as I please.”

You roll your eyes, sticking out your tongue at him, and he gives you a Cheshire cat smile in reply, clearly unaffected by your display. Letting out a long suffering sigh, you turn to the restaurant's occupants, yelling out goodbyes, which you receive in turn, before Sans snags your waist and you’re back in the familiar and comfortable living room of home. You stretch, letting out a quiet noise of satisfaction, before turning to him with a grin.

“Welp, I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. Ready to go to bed?”

Sans nods, coughing a little nervously in the back of his throat at your use of words, but you just laugh lightly as a reply as you head over to the bathroom to get ready. After all, if he could tease you, you could tease him right back.

 

You had a feeling you’d sleep well tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers: Sans probably spent the entire day eating muffins. With or without ketchup is for you to decide. :p  
> I really love writing Grillby; ever the fiery gentleman. May or may not have to write a fic about him at some point xD 
> 
> Heh, I got bored and decided to draw out some things! :3  
> Sans and the ongoing battle of poking:  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/173486439036/the-various-poking-battles-between-yn-and-sans-in  
> And some Papyrus sketches!:  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/173763578481/a-papyrus-brand-hug-and-papyrus-in-general
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	32. A Girl's Night?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are far too many amazing jokes...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

Wednesday passed by with ease – even if Sans was teasing you for the majority of the time over how he’d made you jump ‘out of your skin’ at the end of your shift. You vowed you would get revenge, which he took in his typical manner; he shrugged and grinned his Cheshire cat grin. If anything, this made you all the more determined to get suitable revenge, as his apathy over your threats only added fuel to the fire. But then again, you also knew that starting such a battle would end in war – no, you had to plan this _subtly_.

It was then that inspiration struck; Papyrus would help you in your endeavours, surely? So Wednesday night, while you helped Papyrus wash up the dishes, you clued him in – and he was more than happy to oblige (having suffered under Sans’ puns and pranks for his entire existence).

And so, on Thursday morning, your master plan was put into action at breakfast as Papyrus helped you dish out the pancakes – as both you and Sans had been sleeping better, you’d started to rise earlier, feeling and looking a lot more ‘healthy’; thus the creation of delicious pancakes came with ease. As Papyrus slid Sans’ designated pancakes over to him, he coughed slightly, getting his older brother’s attention.

“Yeah bro?”

“...why didn’t the skeleton dance at the Halloween party?”

“…..pfft. I don’t know, why?”

“He had _no body_ to dance with! Nyeh heh heh!”

“Hehe, good one. Welp, thanks for the pancakes, y/n.”

You narrow you eyes slightly at him as he digs in, but Papyrus shoots you a gaze that simply said ‘ _trust me_ ’, so that’s exactly what you did. Papyrus coughs slightly once again, and Sans’ eye-lights flick back up, giving him his attention.

“When does the skeleton laugh?”

“...when does the-”

“When something tickles his funny bone! Nyeh heh!”

“Heh, heard that one, but cool, bro.”

“…..what do you do if you see a skeleton running across the road?”

“...what?”

“Jump out of you skin and join him! Nyeh!”

“Heh, that’s so bad...”

“Why did the skeleton run up a tree?”

“Why…?”

“Because a dog was after his bones! Nyeh heh!”

“...heh.”

You chuckled under your breath, seeing Sans’ face twitch slightly with the pressure of excessive bad jokes. You pipe up, adding to it.

“Hey Sans, how did the skeleton know it was going to rain?”

“….uh….he felt it in his bones?”

“Nah, he read the weather forecast.”

Sans snorted at this, shaking his head as he rolled his eye-lights; Papyrus narrowed his sockets at you, and you had to agree….perhaps that joke was too funny to torture him with. Papyrus gained attention once again, coughing as he dusted his pancakes with a little powered sugar.

“Why didn’t the skeleton want to play football any more?”

“...why?”

“Because his heart wasn’t in it!”

Papyrus giggled himself at the terrible quality, while Sans rolled his eye-lights, groaning under his breath.

“Bro, that’s so bad….no, don’t laugh at those, at least laugh at my classy puns-”

“How did skeletons send their letters in the old days?”

“Hang on bud, I need to eat these before they get cold-”

“BY BONEY EXPRESS!”

Sans jumped at his brother’s sudden yell, frowning for the first time; inwardly you rubbed your hands together, glad that the evil plan was working.

“Ok, ok….but seriously, let’s just eat, ok?”

Papyrus nodded, his expression serious; Sans let out a slight sigh of relief, looking back down at his breakfast lovingly….that was, before Papyrus started yelling at the top of his lungs, even making you jump a little – and he wasn’t stopping for breath.

“HOW DOES A SKELETON CALL HIS FRIENDS? WITH A TELEBONE! WHAT DO YOU CALL A SKELETON SNAKE? A RATTLER! WHAT DID THE SKELETON SAY WHEN ANOTHER SKELETON TOLD A LIE? YOU CAN’T FOOL ME, I CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU! WHAT DID THE SKELETON SAY WHEN RIDING HIS HARLEY DAVIDSON? I’M BONE TO BE WILD! WHO WAS THE MOST FAMOUS SKELETON DETECTIVE? SHERLOCK BONES! WHY DID THE SKELETON GO TO THE HOSPITAL? TO HAVE HIS GHOULSTONES REMOVED! WHAT DO….*gasp*….SKELETONS USE TO GET INTO THEIR HOMES….*gasp*….SKELETON KEYS!!”

There’s beautiful silence as Papyrus desperately catches his breath and you and Sans stare at him in complete and utter shock; you were surprised that your ears hadn’t started to bleed. Papyrus slowly leans in towards Sans, the tension rising in the room as he did so, and almost whispers.

“Why did the skeleton stay out in the snow all night?”

“…..uh, why?”

“He was a numbskull.”

“...oh. Heh?”

You hide your sniggers as Sans literally squirms in his seat, his expression dire. Papyrus suddenly takes in another mighty shouting breath, which Sans promptly all but slams his head on the table at, the glasses and plates jumping upon the surface in reaction; thankfully, the pancakes were safe.

“Oh my god, Papyrus, are you done?!”

At this point, you and Papyrus burst out into almost manic laughter; Sans slowly raises his head, and narrows his sockets at you, though you can see that he’s trying desperately not to smile.

“ _Y_ _ou._ Now, _that_ was a low blow.”

“It was perfect, and, to be honest, I did warn you.”

“Yes! Thoroughly japed by the great Papyrus! Nyeh heh heh!”

Sans sniggers softly, waving a napkin dismissively in defeat, and you all return to your pancakes; which, despite Sans’ worries, were not cold at all.

 

~

 

You make a happy noise of victory as you finally manage to find you old small backpack after a good half hour of searching; oddly, you’d hidden it inside your enormous camping backpack, not that it mattered – you’d found it, and could always question your organisation skills at a later date.

You proceed to shove in all that you needed for the evening ahead – some pj’s (which were still an oversized t-shirt and jogging bottoms; some things never change), your wash stuff and tooth brush, some spare clothes should you need them, and a few anime DVDs that you’d had for years (not that you’d ever been able to watch them up on the surface, as you’d never owned a TV; it was nice to know that they’d finally be put to use).

You stretch luxuriously as you stand, your back snapping and popping with the effort, then put the backpack into your phone; it would be easier than just carrying it around. You take another look down at yourself, before nodding decisively in approval; you were wearing black leggings, your work pumps, and a soft red cotton t-shirt dress – all comfortable to slouch about in, and all suitable for the heat of Hotland, should you need to risk going outside of the lab.

Making you way out of your room and down the stairs, you laugh lightly at the dramatic pose Sans had put himself in – slouched across the couch in a fashion reminiscent of a certain scene in Titanic; he winks slowly at you, smirk stretched across his features.

“’sup. You ready?”

“Yeah…I think I’ve got everything, anyways. Pap isn’t back yet?”

“He will be soon; don’t worry, I’ll tell him you said goodbye. Oh, what time do you want picking up tomorrow, by the way?”

“Oh, it’s ok – just do it after work, you know, at ‘book time’; Alphys did warn that it would probably be an all nighter thing after all, heh.”

“Sure bud. Looking forward to it?”

“….yeah, I really am. I mean, since coming down here, I can say this is probably the most social I’ve ever been in my life….it’s nice.”

He gives you a warm smile, before standing, making a gentle noise of satisfaction in the back of his throat as he stretched.

“Heh, I’m totally gonna steal your _whole_ bed while you’re away.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Yup. Gonna starfish across it like no tomorrow.”

You rolled your eyes, poking his side, or rather, attempting to – he dodged at the last moment, sticking his tongue out at you.

You’re about to continue the attack, but he quickly grabs your waist and before you know it, you’re stood in Alphys’ lab; Alphys herself jumps about a foot in surprise at this, squeaking in a dignified manner. But before you can reprimand him, he disappears, leaving only a laugh in his wake. You grumble in frustration, taking your phone out and furiously typing out a message to him over Undernet.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Oooh, you_ _are_ _so gonna get a major poke in the side when I see you next._

 

You start slightly when you get an almost immediate reply.

 

BoneHead: _Su_ _uu_ _re buddy – I’d like to see you try. :p_

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: >:(

 

BoneHead: _Heh. Have a good time._

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _I will! See you tomorrow. :_ _)_

 

You put your phone away, sighing gently with a slight shake of your head, and looking over to see Alphys had recovered from her initial shock and was smirking at you.

“T-trouble in paradise?”

You scoff, plopping yourself down on the couch next to her; she’d set up an enormous TV across from the coffee table, and put out a large array of snacks on said table, many of which you did not recognise – for instance, a bag of popato chisps…? But you did recognise a few cartons of instant noodles, just waiting to be eaten.

“Nah, he’s just being Sans. So, what’s first on the agenda?”

“W-well, I was thinking -”

“Makeover, of course, darlings!”

You shriek in shock (Alphys squeaking slightly with you) as Mettaton pops his head up from behind the couch, his metallic eyes lit up with pure excitement. Once you recover, you frown, before poking a finger in his face.

“Nope, sorry bud – girl’s night only.”

“But darling, you know I’m far more feminine that the two of you put together.”

You laugh, as you know that he’s joking, but you had to admit…..he was kind of right, at least in regards to you. You look over to Alphys for her opinion, and she shrugs; obviously not bothered by it. You sigh in an exaggerated manner – after all, he was all about the dramatic effects.

“Ok, ok, I guess it’s alright.”

Mettaton lets out a gleeful screech, leaping up to his full height from behind the couch. You raise an eyebrow at him curiously.

“Uh….by the way, how long were you hiding behind there?”

“…..a while.”

You face palm, and you have the distinct feeling that Alphys was doing the same next to you while Mettaton let out an awkward laugh – but you could tell he didn’t really feel any shame from it. Or if he did, it certainly wasn’t going to be stopping him from repeating his eavesdropping behaviours – you supposed it presented far too good an opportunity for dramatic entrances.

“Right, ok, so first on the agenda will be…. _makeovers_.”

You shudder delicately at the statement; mainstream media on the surface had kind of made it the stuff of nightmares.

“Uh, can I chuck my bag somewhere first? So I have all my stuff to hand? Plus, I want to show you the DVDs I brought with me from the surface.”

Alphys lets an excited squeaking noise, nodding eagerly; you grin in response, taking out your new phone and retrieving your bag. You dig though the contents, handing your small anime collection to a more than eager Alphys, before looking around for a place to put your bag without it getting in the way – not that you had to look around for long, as Mettaton quickly took the worn material from you with a smile, stashing it behind the couch.

“Oh my god, y/n! You have the entire series of Kaichou wa Maid-sama?! I’ve only ever seen one episode of this! We _have_ to watch it!”

You blink in surprise, noticing that Alphys had actually reached such a level of excitement her stutter had completely vanished. Mettaton merely waggled his meticulous eyebrows at you when you cast him a slightly shocked expression; he was obviously used to it.

“Uh, yeah, sure, sounds good.”

“And, and, what’s this?! Oh, y/n, this is so….so….”

She actually looked as though she was tearing up with joy; you pat her arm gently, giggling, but glad that you’d made the right choice in bringing them along.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok. We’ve got all the time in the world to watch them! I’m just glad that they make you so happy.”

She gave you a smile that practically sparkled, which was something, considering she had Mettaton, the embodiment of all that sparkles, directly behind her as he leant on the back of the couch.

“So, uh, in terms of makeovers…..I didn’t bring any of my make-up with me.”

“Oh, b-believe me, that won’t be a p-problem with him around.”

“Indeed, darlings! Follow me.”

He stands with a graceful and dramatic flourish, stepping out from behind the couch and heading down the corridor. You look at Alphys with slight confusion, which she returns with an oddly knowing look, before following after him. You sigh, mentally gathering yourself, before you also stand and make your way along the polished floors, your feet creating a pleasant tapping sound, which added to the cacophony of Alphys’ clicking as her claws hit the flooring, and the sultry clack as Mettaton strutted in his heels.

You pass by the doors which lead to the room with the scanners, and pass by a few more, until you reach a door which you couldn’t really mistake for anyone but Mettaton’s, given the amount of copious amounts of glitter.

The door opens to reveal the stereotype of a prima donna’s den – a few highly polished mirrors lined with soft spotlights adorned the walls, shelves just below them absolutely swarmed with any and every kind of make-up you could imagine; though you did spot quite a few boxes of craft glitter amongst the ordered mess (and you sincerely hoped he would not being using it on your face). The carpet was plush beneath your feet and a bright flamingo pink; as were the walls, or rather, what you could see of the walls beneath the various pictures of Mettaton in various dramatic poses (in both calculator form and his new body). In the corner, there was an enormous chaise-lounge, which was a dark dusty pink and richly embroidered; hung over the back of it was an extravagant pink feathered boa.

“...well, it certainly reflects your personality, Mettaton.”

“Thank you darling; it’s just fabulous, isn’t it?”

He enters the room briskly, gesturing for Alphys to sit at one of the mirrors – she struggles a little to get up on the stool, but is eventually sitting comfortably. You sit cautiously upon the chaise-lounge, trying to avoid getting too much glitter on your clothes; though you weren’t exactly sure why you were that bothered, considering you were more than sure the second you entered the room you had been covered in the stuff.

Mettaton examined Alphys’ face with an experienced eye, turning his head gently as he thought, before nodding decidedly to himself and starting to select products; you watched with sudden interest, having never been all that proficient at putting on make-up yourself.

“So, uh….what are you going to do?”

“Well gorgeous, I’m going to start with a primer, then I’m going to add something called a ‘beauty flash balm’ mixed with foundation; much more subtle than a lone foundation product. I’ll add a slight shimmer, just to bring out these beautiful scales-”

Alphys blushes delicately at this.

“-and then we’ll work on her eyes and mouth. Darling, what colour do you think would suit her eyes? I was thinking of going with browns and dark greens?”

“...yeah, that would look nice on her. Then a slightly darker pink for her lips?”

“Oh, that’s genius. Yes, she’ll look wonderful. Not that she doesn’t already!”

Alphys covers her face in embarrassment with a soft squeak, earning a disproving tutting noise from Mettaton as he grabs her claws to reveal her face once again for him to work on. You lean back a little more into the plush surface of the chaise-lounge, no longer caring about the state of your clothing; it was truly a lost cause – besides, the chaise-lounge was surprisingly comfy, and you were going to take full advantage of that. Mettaton assembled the products he needed in front of him, then, with one last positioning of Alphys’ face, he begins; and it’s truly quite the sight to see. All you witness is an incredible whirl of brushes and powders – the majority of the processes are completely lost on you, but you had to admit, he had a knack for applying the stuff; Alphys was slowly transforming into red carpet perfection.

At last, he seems to be satisfied with the result; he steps back, before coughing slightly to signify that Alphys could look. She sighs happily at her reflection, turning her snout from side to side to watch her scales catching the light.

“A-as usual, it’s wonderful, M-Mettaton.”

“Thank you, sweetie. Now, y/n, please step up to the pedestal!”

“...it’s a stool.”

“Come on gorgeous, keep with the mood.”

You snort softly, drawing yourself up from the soft material of the chaise-lounge and attempting to sweep off as much glitter as you could (a truly fruitless cause), before you swap places with the Alphys; you had always hated sitting on stools, as after a while your lower back started to complain, but having seen the immense speed and precision of Mettaton’s make-up application, you knew you’d be able to bear with it.

Mettaton gently takes a hold of your chin when you’re comfortably seated, his metallic fingers sending a slight chill up and down your spine (they were ice cold, despite the warm temperature of the room; you supposed that it made sense, given his composition) as he turned your head from side to side, taking in all your angles and the dimensions of your face – his eyes glinted in concentration as he examined. You supposed it must be quite odd for him; he’d probably never applied make-up to a human before.

Finally he hums, placing your face into a position he would have the best light to work with, before he gestures for you to shut your eyes. At first, you giggle a little at the sensation of brushes gently sweeping against your skin, but you soon sober up, holding yourself as still as possible in order to not interrupt him.

Soon, you hear his familiar cough as he finishes his work – and upon opening your eyes you gasp a little in reflex at your reflection.

Not in a negative sense, however. He’d gone with a natural, but more than striking appearance. Your eyes were bright and lined beautifully with a smokey, sultry look, and he’d placed tiny gems delicately along your top lashes; they almost looked like tiny stars in a night sky. Your lips looked full and heady, the colour deep, but not too bright or even obvious you were wearing anything – it simply enhanced your natural colour to perfection. Your cheekbones shimmered with a dewy softness when you turned your head; it made you skin look new and glowing, completing the look with an indescribable softness.

“ _Holy shit_. Where did you learn to do something like this…? I’ve honestly never seen make-up as perfect as this, it’s insane!”

Mettaton squeals in happiness, hands to his face; you’re shocked to see genuine tears in the corners of his eyes.

“Oh my, darling, thank you so much! I’ve always looked at the magazines from above, and I just learnt by trying to achieve the same thing!”

You blink in complete and utter shock, fully knowing that the majority of the images in magazines had been heavily edited in order to look ‘perfect’ - it was incredible to think that he’d managed to achieve something of that level by looking at something fake.

“Heh, I’m going to feel awful taking it off later. Oh wait! We should take a selfie together.”

You giggle stupidly; you’d never been one for following social trends, mostly due to your lack of lifestyle up on the surface, so being able to utter such a sentence felt very foreign to you – but Alphys and Mettaton seemed pleased with the idea, gathering around you as you dug out your phone.

All three of you pose with happy smiles, as your phone imitates a camera click; at the very least, it would be a nice memory of the evening. You sigh with slight regret, looking down at it – it was a pity you couldn’t post it on your Undernet profile, as it was such a nice photo.

All three of you make your way back into the lounge area, Alphys shrieking in excitement about digging into some new anime – you change into your nightwear for comfort (you regretfully remove your make-up; you knew you’d just forget about it later, especially if you fell asleep while watching anime. You did, however, spend a stupid amount of time simply looking at the work and appreciating it before you erased it), before you all gather up together in a disorganised heap under some thick and soft covers on the couch (inwardly you thank the stars that Alphys was sat next to you, given your recent discovery over how cold Mettaton’s body was), snacks laid out around you in easy grabbing reach. All in all, you were set for a perfect session of binge watching.

But first, apparently (well, according to Mettaton), came the customary ‘gossiping section’.

“I don’t really have all that much to gossip about….honestly.”

“Nonsense, darling! There’s always scandal, no matter where you go.”

“Maybe for you….but I honestly just do the same thing everyday, heh.”

“Y-yeah, I’m the s-same….w-well working a-as a scientist can have-”

“No, no! Interesting, perhaps, but it’s not _scandal._ No, it seems I’ll have to start this process.”

Mettaton heaves in a heavy breath, his eyes closing dramatically as he pondered over his options; you play along, leaning back into the couch in defeat as he thinks.

“Ok, ok…..y/n!”

“Uh, yes?”

“Who….do you think Alphys has a crush on?”

Alphys immediately blushes and started to babble out refusals at the conversation topic; you’re intrigued despite yourself.

“Oh wow, anyone I know?”

“N-n-no!”

“Not yet darling; but I’m sure you will. After all -”

“M-M-Mettaton! _No_!”

“- oh, come on, Alphys, sweetheart, it’s not that bad. Very understandable, in fact!”

Alphys covers her face with a groan, and you gently pat her head with soft laughter, attempting to reassure her.

“Hey, it’s ok – not like it’s going to leave this room, huh? I promise I wouldn’t tell anyone….unless you wanted me to help with the whole affair, heh.”

Alphys looked at you with a slightly mollified expression, before letting out an anxious puff of air.

“Y-You don’t k-know her. B-but thank you…..m-maybe one day, if you meet h-her….o-oh, no, I d-don’t t-t-think I’d be able….”

“Hey, it’s ok. Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

Mettaton leans in with a sly expression, about to make the grand reveal, but you shake your head with a pointed glare and speak up, thoroughly distracting him.

“What about you, Mettaton? Do _you_ like anyone?”

You’re met instantly with shocked silence; now it’s Alphys who leans forward with a smug expression, but Mettaton quickly speaks over her, his smile twisted with anxiety.

“Now now, you know that’s not what I said.”

“O-oh co-come on, you know you’re i-interested.”

“I don’t know _anything_ yet! Far too early to tell. So no more!”

“WELL, it seems we’ve come to an impasse. So, we won’t talk about either….unless you both want to reveal who you like at the same time?”

You’re met with vigorous head shakes, which makes you bark with laughter.

“Right, well, now that’s sorted….oh, and for the record, I can’t say that I have anyone I’m interested in. So, let’s get down to the anime session, shall we?”

“...y-you don’t have anyone? R-really?”

You quirk a brow at her curiously, noting that both her and Mettaton are wearing slightly shocked expressions.

“Really really. To be honest….heh, here’s your scandal, Mettaton, so get ready.”

He leans forward with curiosity despite himself – Alphys gently smacks his arm with a gentle snort of laughter.

“...I’ve never actually had a real relationship. So it’s kind of difficult for me to even determine something like….that. I guess I’ll just know when I know….don’t want to force anything.”

“T-that’s understandable. I-it should be natural, a-and magical! Just like i-in episode 5 of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, wh-when-”

You quickly cover her snout with your hands, effectively muffling her words.

“Nope! Nope, no spoilers!”

She giggles gently, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

“Heh, s-sorry. R-right! Le-let’s start up the DVD.”

Mettaton, however, makes no move to turn on the TV at her words, instead studying your face with an obvious confusion.

“….uh? Mettaton? Dude, you’re staring?”

He blinks, before letting out a sigh.

“For the record, gorgeous, I don’t quite understand it – have you not received….interest?”

“….I guess I have, at times. But that’s not the point – I didn’t feel anything like that for them, so it’d be pointless trying anything….you know?”

He hums, his expression thoughtful, before he nods.

“...yes, you’re right. As insightful as ever, darling.”

You chuckle, watching as he finally reaches across the table for the controls – the lights are quickly flicked off while the TV is switched on, and the anime evening truly begins.

Alphys absolutely adores Kaichou wa Maid-sama, and even Mettaton gets into it, shrieking along with you and Alphys as you yelled at the main female character to admit the fact that she was in love already, and gushing over which character was the cutest. You watch the complete series, but almost immediately another series was put into the DVD player – the box-set of an anime called Ouran High School Host Club, which was a romantic comedy about a girl who was acting as a boy in a host club, and slowly gaining the affections of all the other members while the club went about its escapades. However, by this point, the hour was more than a little late; Mettaton had been the first to fall asleep, promptly letting his head flop against the back of the couch with a thud, his mouth hanging open in a very flattering fashion; dignified indeed. But at least he didn’t snore.

A few more hours in, you felt your eyes start to flutter shut, and your vision started to blur with fatigue.

 

The last thing you saw before you gave in to your body’s demands was Alphys as she continued to watch the show, as awake as when the watching had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...honestly, I have no idea if this is what people do at sleepovers, but it sounds pretty sweet to me. *shrugs*  
>  Also, GAME GRUMPS REFERENCE! If you didn't catch it, well....shame on you. For shame. All of the shame. >:(
> 
> Sending a million crazy thank yous over at the beautiful Malenchka for this fanart of Sans! >.< *look at him! look at this boi!*  
> https://malenchka.tumblr.com/post/174133030295/yo-this-is-a-gift-for-crusnikroxas-for-always
> 
> Heh, annnd I drew some more pics of our favourite skeleton. >.>  
> Our boi in his classic hoodie: https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/174004609751/lil-drawing-for-malenchka-3-im-tired-and-its  
> And actually something from this chapter! His 'pose', which is similar to a certain scene in Titanic? https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/174058363041/another-skeleboi-sketch-this-ones-for
> 
> Also wanted to thank the lovely SecretlyUniversallyRuins - sending you internet affections, thank you so much >//<
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	33. Tea Mysteries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we wake up after a night of excessive anime watching...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You awoke with a jolt and a gasp; you’d been once again yanked out of the Void unceremoniously by that annoying tugging sensation in your soul, which was a pity, considering the pleasant conversation you’d been having with Gaster at the time (he still thought Mettaton’s use of glitter was excessive, but agreed that his personality had much improved; he still didn’t quite know what to think of anime, however).

You yelp softly as it gives another hard tug; in fact, it seemed to be much worse than usual, as if your very soul was attempting to burst out of your chest. You rub at the area, feeling annoyed; it almost felt as if your insides would become bruised with the pressures.

“Y-y/n? Are you o-okay?”

You look over in surprise to see that Alphys is still awake; Mettaton is sprawled in an attractive fashion upon the couch seat next to her – you had to admit, you were tempted to take a picture for teasing purposes.

“Yeah….I’m -”

Your whispering momentarily gets cut off with another grunt as your soul tugs, before you continue.

“- I’m ok. It’s not pain; uh, apparently it’s fine? Whatever it is? Anyway, Sans doesn’t seem to be concerned, heh.”

“W-What is it…?”

“It’s like a random tugging. It’s, uh, worse than it usually is.”

You flinch as the tugging somehow gets harder; you look down at where your soul lay with a furrowed brow; it was really starting to become aggravating.

“...o-oh my….”

You look over at her in surprise; she’d covered her face slightly, appearing to have turned back to the anime which was still playing on TV, albeit so quietly it was more like a humming backdrop. Given the following semi-silence, it appeared that this was yet another case of ‘we’ll talk about this at a later date’. You inwardly sigh, mentally accepting your frustrations; plus, you didn’t want to pressure Alphys. You instead focus on her in another manner; she didn’t seem tired in the least, which was more than a little worrying – you were no stranger to insomnia, after all.

“...uh….are you ok? I mean, it must be pretty late at this point?”

“O-oh, yes, I’m g-great. And it’s a-around 3am.”

You let out a low whistle, wincing slightly at another tug, and at the fact that Mettaton had suddenly jerked in his sleep – truly the most graceful of sleepers.

“Alphys, do you….do you always sleep this bad?”

She looks over to you, her face still resting in her claws, her glasses gently glinting in the light the television was emitting in the otherwise pitch black room; she sighs softly.

“I-I’m not one for sl-sleeping, to be honest…..too much w-work, hehe. B-but that’s alright! That’s what c-coffee’s for.”

You rub your face slightly in tiredness, curling into a ball in an effort to ease the tugging, which was increasing slowly in viciousness.

“….what kind of work do you do here?”

She looks at you with slight surprise, clearly not expecting you to be interested.

“O-oh, well….I’m m-mostly looking into m-methods of breaking the barrier, b-but….it’s obviously d-difficult. I’ve f-found the former journals of the previous h-head scientist, but I can’t….decipher them. They’re in a language that I-I’ve never seen. Otherwise, I’m just h-here for helping with repairs a-and the like….”

“….and that’s all keeping you up? Don’t you have anyone to help you?”

She let out another heavy sigh, her expression slightly sad.

“N-not any more. Or, at least, not a-at the moment.”

“...I wish I could help….I’ve only just started to learn about souls, though….”

She smiled at you gently, placing a claw over one of your hands, even though they were tightly gripping the front of your t-shirt with the effort of ignoring the tugging.

“T-thank you. I ap-appreciate it.”

You summon a smile back at her, wincing at yet another harsh tug; she sighs at this, something akin to sympathy on her face as she patted your hand once again.

“D-do you w-want anything to drink?”

“Oh? Um, sure, what were you thinking?”

“H-how does tea sound?”

You’d never been much of a tea drinker; that said, you’d never tried monster tea, and given the past quality of the food, you had a sneaking suspicion that you might like it.

“Sure, sounds good.”

“O-ok, I’ll be r-right back….”

She pauses the anime, then cautiously gets up, trying to shift the couch as little as possible; Mettaton lets out a loud snort in reaction, but sleeping beauty does not awaken, much to your combined relief.

As Alphys scuttles away into the darkness (you’re still shocked by the revelation that your friends could see in almost perfect darkness – and more than a little jealous of that fact), you curl around yourself a little tighter, letting out a soft whine at the pressure. If you didn’t know any better, you’d assume something awful like a heart attack, but with the new knowledge of the existence of souls, you could at least rest a little easier.

However, it didn’t make it any less annoying of a sensation; it was a unique brand of pain.

You suddenly jump upon hearing a loud scuffing noise in the room – you peer into the darkness nervously, happy that at least the pressure seemed to have a let up a little; it was more of a dull throbbing now.

“Um…..hello?”

The room is silent aside from the slightly robotic breathing coming from Mettaton. Still, you could swear that you could feel eyes upon you – you didn’t feel threatened, exactly, but it was an unnerving sensation, and not being able to see jack shit wasn’t helping.

“Alphys? Is that you?”

You frown a little more, uncurling yourself gently, straining your eyes in a desperate effort to see something. You stiffen as you heard a breath in the darkness; one that you were sure didn’t come from you, or your sleeping couch mate.

“Uh….ok then. So, whoever you are, you’re just gonna stand there in the darkness? For shame. That comes off as pretty creepy, you know.”

You could swear that you heard an oddly familiar snort of laughter from the inky black, and you desperately try to make your brain work to recognise it – but you were more than a little tired, so your endeavours were not going well. You’re about to say something else, when you hear the familiar clicking noise of Alphys returning with the tea; she appears to pause briefly, before making her way back to the sofa, placing the tea upon the coffee table, giving you a concerned look.

“A-are you ok? You look….a li-little spooked.”

“Oh, um….I just thought I heard something. You know, someone else in the room? Haha, perhaps I’m just tired...”

She appears to look around the room carefully, before looking back at your with a reassuring expression.

“I-it’s ok. There’s n-nobody there.”

 

~

 

You wake up feeling a little more rested that your previous awakening, though you could still describe yourself as exhausted; and having fallen asleep in an awkward position your muscles were more or less screaming. Taking this all into account, you groan as you sit up, feeling like death….though perhaps that was a little offensive, given your skeleton friends. You look around yourself dazedly, noticing that you were alone. Rubbing your eyes in an effort to wake yourself up a little more, you lean back and allow yourself an almighty stretch – your back lets out such an alarming cracking noise that if it hadn’t felt so good, you would have worried that you’d accidentally broken your spine. Still, it did make your aches and pains feel a little better, even if the noise was nothing short of horrific.

Feeling a little more like yourself, you finally notice the scrap of paper that had been left upon the coffee table.

 

_Hey Y/n!_

_You looked so peaceful, so I let you sleep (^.^)_

_I’m working deep in the lab today, so don’t worry about saying goodbye, ok? I don’t want you getting lost…..the labs here are huge, I mean, even I get lost most of the time! D:_

_Mettaton is off filming his new show, but he said goodbye, and that he had an amazing time and looks forward to the next time?_

_Anyway, there’s a shower and bathroom in the first room on the left when you enter the corridor; there’s also some left over food from last night on the coffee table, if you want some._

_It was a really lovely evening; we’ll definitely have to make it a weekly thing!_

 

_See you soon! :3_

 

_Alphys x_

 

Deftly grabbing your bag from behind the couch (even if the slight strain on your sore spine makes you wince a little), you make your way to the bathroom; it was pretty simple, as bathrooms went – white walls and tiles. You feel slightly sad at the fact there was no bath, given your aching muscles, but a shower would help things out a little, so you couldn’t complain that much.

You work your way slowly through your shower, appreciating the warm water, and willing it to ease your aching muscles before your evening’s work at Grillby’s. Luckily, there was a small difference when you finished up with your wash, but you had to admit you missed the squishiness of your new bed; you’d been spoiled.

Having dried yourself, you wriggle back into what you’d been wearing yesterday – the ensemble was comfy, and since you planned to just lounge around for a little while, it was more than ideal for the situation.

Exiting the bathroom, you traipse your way back towards the couch area, bare feet slapping against the marble flooring; the cool feeling against your soles was oddly soothing, and the smoothness of the tiles was also pleasant.

You all but throw yourself upon the couch, wriggling in to get comfortable, before examining the spread of remaining food in front of you; instant noodles looked the most appealing at this point. You open a cup, but before you could begin to wonder where you could get boiling water to cook them, you noticed that they were already hot and ready to eat – clearly another marvel of monster technology, and definitely one that you more than appreciated at this point, as rest was your prime objective at the moment.

Absently-mindedly twirling a fork into the noodles and slurping up a few mouthfuls, you turn on your phone to see if you had any messages – and feel slightly surprised that you had quite a few. Getting yourself a little more comfortable, more or less curling around your noodle cup so that you would be able to message and eat at the same time (multitasking at the highest level), you tap on one of the first – which was from Papyrus.

 

CoolSkeleton95: _Greetings, y/n! I hope that you’re enjoying the most joyous of evenings with the good Dr. Alphys. We shall see you soon!_

 

You smile softly to yourself; you were really too fortunate to have someone like Papyrus in your life. That said, you were fortunate for having any of your friends. Your smile is interrupted slightly, however, as you saw that he’d sent you another message, this one fairly early in the morning.

 

CoolSkeleton95: _Greetings again, y/n!_ _I just wanted to mention that I think your presence ha_ _s most certainly been_ _missed in your absence! I mean, I, of course, also missed you, but I also knew I’d be seeing you later! Hope your evening was the most wondrous of events._

 

You fight not to chuckle at Papyrus’ formal messages, which isn’t too difficult, considering the odd message that he’d sent. Obviously it was about Sans; there wasn’t any one else in the Serif household, after all. But surely if something serious had happened he would have mentioned it in his message? Or perhaps you were meant to read between the lines…..your mind was still addled with sleep, but you could guess that it meant that Sans had missed you, which was a sweet sentiment, but you were still a little confused as to why Papyrus had felt the need to mention it.

Shaking your head in an effort to rid yourself of tired confusion, you hesitantly reply.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Hi there, Paps. I missed you guys too! And I had a wonderful evening. We’ll all have to have an evening together at some point – perhaps you won’t miss me so much then. I’ll see you later!_

 

You nod absently to yourself; hopefully you’d interpreted his message correctly, and your answer would comfort him a little. It was sweet, how much the brothers cared about each other's well being. Satisfied, you open another message, which was from Mettaton.

 

MTTNeo: _Hello there gorgeous! Just wanted to say that I had a wonderful time – hope that we can have an equally fabulous evening next time._

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Yeah, it was nice, wasn’t it? I’m sure that next time will be even better!_

 

Smiling softly to yourself, you flick to the next message – it was from Sans, and it was sent at an extremely early hour.

 

Bonehead: _Uh, hey there bud. Hope your evening was as good as you hoped. Heh, sorry – hope this doesn’t wake you up. Anyways, see you later._

 

You frown to yourself softly, gulping up another mouthful of noodles – it was a pleasant comforting taste, much like ramen on the surface, but somehow a little more satisfying; you found yourself already feeling quite full, though you’d barely made a dent in the pot.

Still, the message worried you more than a little; for one, the early hour, which suggested to you that Sans hadn’t slept very well, and the lack of his usual humour. However, you didn’t want to make him feel awkward at all, so you messaged back with equal casualness.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Hey there! The evening was pretty good, yeah. And you didn’t wake me – I was pretty dead last night, heh. How’s work going?_

 

You settle back into the sofa a little more, trying to give your back a little more comfort – and jolt suddenly when your phone buzzes, signifying that you had another message.

 

Bonehead: _Heh, work is work. Nothing of interest to report, to be honest. Unless you count snow as interesting. What about you?_

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _I’m sat on the couch eating noodles._

 

Bonehead: _Udon’t say?_

 

You scoff a little at the terrible pun, texting back furiously.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Pho the love of all that’s holy, that was soba-d._

 

Bonehead: _Oh, bud, don’t worry, I’m just warming up for the mein event._

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Well, aren’t you lucky that I also have somen-y bad puns?_

 

Bonehead: _Ouch – don’t give mie that, I know you love my puns, bad or no._

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Ok, I think I’m actually out of asian noodles to pun with. Unless I make a joke about ramen emperors?_

 

Bonehead: _Nice one. I’ll be stealing that for another time._

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _But that was my one :(_

 

You giggle to yourself, wiping away the tears that had been produced during your laughter at the stupid pun battle – nothing like laughter in the morning to make you feel a little better, even if your back still felt like a mangled mess. You hurriedly slurp up some more noodles, noting that they were getting a little cold; you knew you couldn’t finish them, however, so you place them back onto the table, wiggling with slight discomfort at how full you felt. You look back down at your phone, noting that Sans had messaged back.

 

Bonehead: _Heh, sorry bud. I’ll grant you mercy in this case; that is, unless the opportunity is too perfect._

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _I’ll forgive you if such a case arises._

 

Bonehead: _By the way, what kind of time did you want me to collect you?_

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Thought we said at around book time?_

 

Bonehead: _So we did. Just wondered if you wanted an early pick up, considering we’re both doing nothing at the moment._

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Heh, thought that you were working?_

 

Bonehead: _….like I said, since we’re both doing nothing…_

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Pfft, ok then, lazy bones. I’m ready whenever, to be honest – no-one else is here but me, and I’ve already had a shower….so yeah._

 

You sigh a little when he doesn’t text back with his usual speed, looking back at your noodles with regret – you always hated being wasteful, having never had such a luxury up on the surface thanks to your meagre sums, but you were full to bursting; you actually felt as if you were going to be sick if you continued your battle against this cup of noodles. In a way, it was amazing that monster food could have so many different effects on your body – but you supposed that was the nature of magic.

Humming a tune softly under your breath, you think back on last night (or rather, this morning), when you’d woken up with the tugging feeling. The sensation was a mystery in itself, one you’d pondered on for far too long, so for now you pushed it to the back of your mind – no, what made you far more curious was the sensation of being watched you’d felt in that dark room. You liked to think that your senses were pretty reliable; sure, you couldn’t see in the dark, but you were _sure_ that you’d heard something. But then, Alphys had insisted that there was nothing there; you didn’t see why she would lie, but perhaps it had been to comfort you? She had said that you seemed ‘spooked’. So maybe, just maybe, she’d said there was nothing there, when there truly was, but it wasn’t something that could be viewed as threatening. Your humming became a little more forceful with your frustrating thoughts – there seemed to be many mysteries in the Underground, and your natural curiosity eating away at you day after day wasn’t going to help your general mood. But for now, you placed it in the back of your mind, with your other unanswered questions – as with everything, you were sure you’d get your answers sooner or later, when the time was right.

“Hey bud.”

You leap off the sofa in shock, scowling heavily at Sans who was trying not to fall to the floor laughing, but failing in his endeavours.

“Sans! Geez, you almost scared me out of my skin! You’ve got to stop this whole, ‘let’s give y/n a heart attack’ thing, ok? I almost prefer the cheek poking thing...”

He walks over and promptly pokes your cheek with a smirk; you scowl at him even more – he raises his hands in defeat, but still had a Cheshire cat grin in place.

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry. I’ll try to make some kind of noise or something if I suddenly appear, ok? Don’t want you collapsing on me or something, heh.”

“Well, if I did, it would be your responsibility to catch me, as the person who scared me to that point.”

“What if I didn’t?”

“It would be very rude. Plus, falling on the floor might hurt.”

Sans chuckled, and now that you heart had sufficiently calmed down from the shock of his sudden appearance, you noticed how tired he looked; almost as tired as he had when you’d first met him on that snowy path leading from the door to the Ruins. Papyrus’ message now made perfect sense.

“...you didn’t sleep well at all, huh?”

Sans winced slightly, looking up at you with a meek grin.

“...nah, not really.”

“Nightmares again?”

“...yeah.”

“…..wanna talk about it?”

He lets out a huffed sigh, giving you a tired smile, before he promptly flops onto the sofa; you follow suit, wincing a little at your back – Sans looks at you enquiringly, his expression immediately concerned.

“Eh, don’t worry about it; my back is killing me from sleeping awkwardly on the couch….oh, by the way, do you want the rest of these?”

You offer your abandoned noodles, your expression weary after your battle; Sans grins and lets out a snort of laughter.

“They defeated you, huh? I mean, I’m not surprised – they give you a lot of HP restoration, so being full from them….yeah.”

He reaches for them eagerly, digging in; before wincing at the fact they were cold. You smile apologetically, before he shrugs, continuing to dig in – clearly the HP gain was worth it. Suddenly, it occurred to you that you actually had a souvenir from the night before.

“Oh! I almost forgot – look at this. Heh, Mettaton went a little crazy with make-overs...”

You go to dig out your phone, stopping momentarily when you hear a slight choking noise from Sans.

“Whoa, you ok?”

“Heh, yeah – just didn’t expect that sentence, I guess.”

You giggle, rolling your eyes at him.

“Oh what, I’m not the kind of girl who likes make-overs?”

He sputters, rolling his eye-lights back at you.

“Now, did I say that? ‘sides, you’re not just any kind of girl, y/n – you can like what you like, whenever you damn well please; be that make-overs or slaying at puns. No, just didn’t expect that rust bucket to be in for a ‘girls night’.”

You shrugged, blushing a little at his words, but covering it up by smirking.

“Hey, he’s far more feminine than I am the majority of the time. Anyway, look!”

Sans obediently looks over at your phone, taking in a slurp of noodles as he did so – or rather, he would have, but he ended up choking again, his eye-lights narrowing down as he hacked and coughed.

“Geez, are you ok?! Man, you gotta slow down with those – I mean, I know they’re going cold, but there’s no need to deprive yourself of oxygen.”

Sans’ face is a light with blush as he laughs awkwardly.

“Heh, what can I say? That picture just made me _breathless_.”

You make a choking noise of your own, eyes wide – he sniggered, his grin decidedly self-satisfied, despite his continued blushing.

“What, no come back? Y/n, I’m getting severely disappointed at my favourite pun buddy, here.”

“I-I-I, uh….don’t worry, I’ll be Oxygen Potassium.”

He thought on it for a moment, before laughing loud – he always seemed to laugh the loudest at science puns, you noticed, which you most definitely appreciated.

“Heh, there she is. Nice to have you back in the room.”

“Nice to have you not coughing up your non-existent lungs.”

He makes an indignant scoffing noise, looking you dead in the eyes as he manages to finish off the pot fairly quickly, rubbing his general stomach area with a contented sigh, which once again, rouses your curiosity. He sees your expression, and laughs quietly in response, his eye-lights dilating.

“Magic, y/n – that’s all I can say.”

“But, but….do you even _have_ organs to digest things?! I know it’s probably rude to ask, but-”

He rolls his eye-lights, before turning to you with a smirk, his body language mirroring yours in the sense that you were both too full.

 

“Ok, guess we’re in need of a little anatomy lesson, bud.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I would love for instant noodles to be that nutritious. Here's a true story for you: I actually lived on instant ramen for MONTHS. Well, actually, more like a year or so. Added a bunch of veggies to it though, so....that's something? >.>  
> In other news, let's hope that Sans doesn't get too choked up while talking to reader-chan ;D  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	34. Happy Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we start our Friday shift at Grillby's....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

“Ok, for one, we don’t really have organs. Not exactly.”

“….what does that even mean?! I mean, how the hell does that-”

“Well, you know that monster food is mostly composed up of magic matter, right?”

“….right?”

“Well, monsters like me and Pap need that to be able to absorb the food and energy. It’s a little like how your stomach breaks down things to put into your bloodstream, ‘cept we absorb it directly and it’s basically instantaneous.”

You grin, giving him a sly glance.

“Heh, you’ve been reading up on humans, haven’t you?”

He blushes slightly, his expression startled – he clearly hadn’t expected you to guess that as fast as you had.

“Y-yeah. Alphys gave me a book, since I was curious.”

“You could’ve just asked me?”

“Yeah, I know, I just….wanted to know you better. So I don’t panic about stupid things like heat stroke again, heh.”

You feel oddly touched that he’d even bothered to look into things – it would have been easy for him to just question you if things came up, but for him to look into things with such detail showed you how much he cared….and perhaps his natural curiosity helped as well.

“So....it’s just absorbed automatically with you? Like, in your mouth?”

Sans lets out an exaggerated sigh, but you knew from his smile that he was happy to answer your questions – it was probably a similar happiness that you felt about him reading up on the general human body functions; plus you supposed he didn’t feel as embarrassed about doing such a thing when you shared an equal curiosity.

“Well, I mean, I obviously know that you have a tongue and all, but-”

“It takes place in more or less the same ‘stomach’ area as you, bud. As far as I know, the whole tongue thing is the same for the both of us – taste and all that jazz.”

“Right. But….I know this is gonna sound silly, but….”

“….what’s even under my shirt?”

“….yeah.”

He sniggers as your blush increases; you growl at him, making him laugh harder.

“Oh man, I told you to stop with that.”

“But! It’s a legitimate question!….even if it is stupid….”

“Nah, it’s not stupid. Uh, as far as I know, it’s just bare bones under here? Heh, I can’t really explain it, to be honest. Magic construct is a weird thing – I mean, technically, it’s a completely different matter than what, say, you’re composed of?”

“So….what you’re saying is….that it all just works….and you’re not sure why?”

“More or less.”

You expression goes blank, as your mind computes this fact.

“….that is _incredibly_ unsatisfying.”

“Ain’t it just? What can I say, monsters can be weird like that.”

You grumble softly under your breath, attempting to stretch a little to alleviate some of your back discomfort and wincing as a result; Sans immediately looks concerned, before his mouth sets into something that could only be described as a determined expression.

“It’s your back, right?”

“Yeah….urgh, stupid couch.”

“Turn around.”

You frown at him, raising an eyebrow in question, which he just shakes off, unable to meet your gaze.

“Trust me, ok?”

“….uh…..ok then?”

You turn away from him, jumping when he unexpectedly grabs your shoulders to turn you a little more – before you realise what he intended to do.

“Oh…. _oh!_ I see. Um, well, thank you.”

He scoffs out a laugh as his hands travel up to the base of your neck to begin the massage.

“Buddy, don’t thank me yet – this’ll probably be awful.”

You start to laugh once again, before drawing up short with a soft exhale; not only was the sensation of his hands (or phalanges, if you wanted to be accurate) upon your shoulders pleasing as they rolled through your sore muscles, but you recognised something else there, warming your skin as he travelled down towards your shoulder blades.

“….are you using healing magic?”

“….a little. I’m not very good at it – Pap’s something of a master, heh. But thought I’d try.”

“…..it’s nice. Thanks.”

He hums out a reply, continuing down your spine; you shudder slightly when he reaches a particularly painful spot, and he softly apologies, continuing to work on the area with a little more focus.

You gently closed your eyes, relaxing slowly into his touch in an effort to make it easier for him to unknot your muscles – and as you did so, you found yourself feeling the faint emotions in the healing magic your were receiving. It suited Sans; it was slightly awkward perhaps, as if you could sense how unsure he was with his actions, but the good intentions were there – he wanted you to feel better, and that was all he was trying to focus on.

He reaches your lower back, digging his thumbs into the knots and tense muscles – and with the combined pressure of rubbing and healing magic, you let out a relieved sigh as you felt your muscles finally release. What neither of you expected however, was your spine letting out a loud snap akin to a gunshot as the muscles relaxed; you both stiffened at the sound and sensation.

You turn with an apologetic expression, but pull up short when you see his face; or rather, lack of, as he’d hidden himself within the confides of his hoodie.

“Uh….Sans?”

You receive a muffled choked out noise as a reply, so at least you knew that he was alive in there.

“...I’m sorry. I can’t really control when it does that, heh….but, uh, thank you. My back feels so much better.”

He uncovers his face at last, giving you a slightly relieved smile, even if he appeared to be blushing heavily; his entire face was more or less alight with it.

“That’s good bud. And it’s ok, just startled me, was all.”

You sit back into the couch, shifting away from him little at the awkwardness of the situation; true, he’d implied that the whole snapping thing wasn’t something to be done in company, but he’d never said why. But obviously it was ruder than you’d previously thought, given his reaction. Appearing to notice how mortified you felt, he poked your cheek with a smirk.

“You’re fine, honestly. Don’t worry about it.”

You hum a little, not quite believing him; you’d always known that it was an awful habit, and you supposed that now you were paying for it. Your cheek is poked a little harder, and you make a slight noise of protest.

“If you poke any harder, you’re going to make a hole in my cheek, Sans.”

“Guess that’d make you a deity down here, then.”

It takes you a moment to connect the dots, but when you do, you snort with laughter.

“Hehe….’holy’, I get it...”

He laughs along with you, before you dig out your phone, looking at the time; you still had a good four hours before work. Noting your obvious time-keeping, Sans stretches a little, before quickly grasping your waist (and backpack; lazy multitasking was obviously his strong suit)– and before you could so much as blink, you were back in the familiar Serif living room.

You groan with happiness at finding yourself back in the squishy comfort of the couch; you sink in with satisfaction, Sans watching your actions with a smug grin.

“This is the best couch ever.”

“Heh, yup.”

You shift a little, giving him an expectant expression; he immediately catches your meaning, and lets out a slight sigh – you could more than understand. Talking about nightmares would never be a pleasant affair, but you knew that it also helped to talk about it in the long run; almost as if it took the horror out of it, just a little bit.

“So, was it the same as….always?”

“...kind of. Well, it started like that, anyway. But then….you were there, again.”

Your brow puckered in concern as you turned to him, examining his expressions; he was almost grimacing at the memory, so you knew that whatever it was, it was something a little different from the usual.

“You….at first, it seemed like it was all going to be ok. It seemed like I was getting somewhere, that I was….that things were….but then, it was all ripped away at the last moment. It was just all so….hopeless. I tried everything, but in the end….it was for _nothin_ _g_.”

He spat the words out as if they were poison, magic flaring for a split second in his socket as he snarled. You didn’t say anything; you just reached out gently and touched his hand, letting him know that you were there, which he looked up appreciatively at, but you could still see the pain in his expression.

“You were the only one left. I thought that I would at least be able to keep you safe, but then….you….I _couldn’t_. It won, anyway – no matter what I did.”

“….what won?”

He flinched slightly at your confused question.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry – you don’t have to talk about it. I can see that it’s….just don’t think about it, ok?”

He huffed out a soft sigh at your words, but looked at you with a warm expression, clearly appreciating the fact that you didn’t want to push him – but you also saw the steel in his eye-lights, and knew that he was driven to tell you anyway.

“….it’s a _demon_. It’s not….it’s not human, and it’s not a monster, that’s for sure. I don’t know _what_ it is, but….yeah.”

He laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, but you feel a slight chill run up your spine at his words, as you remembered all the warnings Gaster had given you about the ‘demon’ on the surface – of course, it was all just a strange coincidence, but you had to admit the word now held some kind of reverence thanks to your experiences.

“So….did you get any sleep, after that?”

He shook his head hurriedly, letting out a frustrated huff.

“Nah. Nothing I did worked after that.”

“….so I’m guessing you didn’t take the chance of stealing my amazing bed?”

He froze at your words, then turned to you with a shamed expression.

“….what?”

“Uh….you know, it’s probably better that you see it for yourself. I’m sorry in advance?”

You squeak slightly as he grabs your waist once again, and you find yourself in your bedroom, or rather, a very messy version of it. Your draws are open, the contents chaotic and spilling out, whilst the rest of the room is covered with the rest of your bedclothes and pillows. You turn to Sans slightly, who was currently wearing the expression of a puppy that had been kicked.

“….dude, chill out. I know when you have bad nightmares your magic goes haywire – I mean, all we have to do is tidy it up! Not that big of a deal.”

He lets out such a relived breath you find yourself laughing at him; you step into the room and start to pick up pillows and socks, before turning to him expectantly.

“Well? C’mon, we need to get this finished up before my shift.”

He blinks slightly, before following your actions and helping to put things away; occasionally you look over to him, inwardly laughing at how relieved his expression was.

 

~

 

You rub hurriedly at the wooden floor with a cloth, soaking up the spilled alcohol, before leaping up to fetch the replacement drink for Seymour (an enormous monster resembling a venus fly trap; his voice could only be described as a constant growl, but he was really a gentle giant) – the idea of Grillby stepping on the floor and potentially setting the bar alight was frankly terrifying, and you weren’t entirely sure why it hadn’t happened before.

Inwardly you almost regretted turning down Papyrus when he’d offered to guard you a few days ago – he wasn’t kidding about it being chaotic. That said, however, drunk monsters were a hell of a lot more pleasant than drunk humans, and you certainly didn’t feel any sort of dangerous atmosphere working around them.

“Psssssst, y/n. Come * _hic_ * over here!”

You chuckle to yourself; the caramel bunny that’d been passed out the first time you’d entered the bar with Papyrus and Sans was a little more conscious tonight – enough so that it seemed she’d made it her mission to befriend you, which you didn’t mind in the least.

“I’ll be over in a bit – just need to finish up with these orders, m’kay?”

She makes a mollified noise as she slumps once again down upon her table, her hand clasping her drink as if it was the only thing keeping her in the here and now. Letting out a soft snort of laughter, you continue with your orders; Seymour’s drink (he growls out a polite ‘thank you’ patting your head softly with a vine), as well as some more fries and water for the Snowdin Dog Patrol, as you’d so named them in your head. Grillby had insisted on manning the bar tonight, as the majority of orders that came in were for drinks, and with you to deliver said drinks to the customers, there was a little less chaos – or rather, less monsters falling over in an effort to get to the bar for their orders.

Grillby himself is mopping the bar with a dishcloth, humming softy under his breath; he looks up as you approach the bar, puffing slightly after rushing around. He gives you a smile, his flames sparking a little with positive appreciation for your hard work.

“You’re doing well, my dear. I’m sorry for the chaos.”

“Believe me, compared to humans on the surface, this is a breeze. Anything else I need to serve to anyone?”

“For the moment, no. So you can go talk all you like to Bonnie.”

You blink, surprised that he’d even noticed that she’d been trying to flag you down all night; he gives you a slight smirk, nodding in her direction.

“Do not worry – I shall call you over when you are needed. She gets lonely; it would be nice if she had some company.”

You smile back at him, before you head over to her booth, sliding in opposite her – she doesn’t immediately notice your presence as she’s still slumped over upon the wooden surface. You gently tap the table, and she wearily raises her head, her ears flopping around her face; before grinning happily as she saw who it was.

“O-oh! It’s youuuu, y/n!”

“It is indeed. It’s nice to meet you, Bonnie.”

She blinks, gasping in surprise.

“You already know my _naaaaame_! That’s so cool.”

“Grillby told me.”

She nods sagely, as if knowing this fact all along, and you puff out a soft laugh in reply – she smiles at you brightly, not seeming to mind your laughter in the least.

“So * _hic_ * you’re human, huh?”

“….yup?”

“That’s so cool…. **Y/n**!”

She suddenly grasps at your hands, making you jump slightly – her expression was so abruptly serious you gulped nervously in an automatic response.

“Uh….y-yes?”

“We…..we _need_ to be friends!”

You let out a slight sigh of relief, smiling at her and her almost frenzied expression.

“Sure! Sounds good to me.”

“Yessss!”

She lets out a loud cheer, punching the air in apparent joy, before placing her soft paws back upon your hands, grinning.

“Ok, ok, ok…..so…..now that we’re friends….I need….* _hic_ * to tell you a secret.”

“Oh…..alright then?”

She leans forward, beckoning for you to do the same, which you do, inwardly wondering how much stranger this conversation was going to become.

“You know….* _hic_ * Steve?”

You have to think for a moment, before realising who she meant.

“Oh! The red bird who’s always with that fish monster?”

She wrinkles her snout in disgust, her eyes crossing slightly with the effort.

“Urrrrgh, Mike is so gross! But yeeeah, that’s Steve….”

She makes a happy sighing sound, leaning back into the cushioned seat of the booth.

“Oh, he’s just soooo….* _hic_ * dreamy, y/n! And, and, you work here, so…..could you get me his number? I’ve liked him foooor ages, pretty please?”

You smile, nodding without hesitation – she looks so shocked, you have to laugh; especially with the fact that her eyes kept crossing whenever her expressions became too extreme.

“Oh, thank you, thank you! You’re like….the best person ever. Seriously.”

Her expression becomes serious as she once again leans over to place her hands upon yours; she pats them furiously, as if that would translate her happiness further.

“Heh, it’s no problem – he seems nice, and so do you….so I’m more than happy to help!”

“You’re….* _hic_ * so so so nice. Best human ever, saying it now. And – and! Don’t worry, I’m totally over your guy.”

You blink in confusion, keening your head a little.

“Uh, I’m sorry?”

“You knooow! Skeleton guy. Snas.”

You outright snort at this – not only at her frankly hilarious drunken slur attempt at his name (you’d have to remember that one for later), but at the fact she thought you were an item.

“Oh, no no no! You’ve got it wrong – we’re just friends.”

“But….don’t you live together?”

“Well, yes -”

“And he takes you here sometimes!”

“Yeah, but honestly, we’re just friends. I mean, I share the house with him _and_ his brother – you know, Papyrus?”

“Oh, oh, yes, that guy who wantsss to be in the Guard! I know him.”

“Yup. So there you go. But you….now like Steve?”

“Yeeeeah. Snas never likes anyone – silly skele.”

You hum a little at this, inwardly wondering if it was because of his general depression and lack of sleep – you really hoped that you could help him get better in time.

“Stillll though….he does talk to you an awful lot, hmm?”

Bonnie looks at you slyly through her lashes, her drunken smile smug.

“Well….we’re really good friends. So yeah, I guess he does?”

“Ha! I kneeew it!”

She points at you victoriously, and you snort; it seemed that nothing would persuade this particular rabbit monster.

“But you know, that’s what friends do. Talk. I mean, we’re friends, and we’re talking, right?”

She blinks slowly, frowning in thought.

“That’ssss….true….”

“Y/n! I’m in need of your assistance.”

“I’ll be there in a sec, Grillbz! Now, Bonnie, I need to go back to work, but I promise I’ll get that number for you, ok?”

She nods erratically, before slumping back on the table with a happy sigh. Satisfied that you’d at least made one being happy, you approach the bar, before pulling up short in surprise. You look at Grillby with a slight frown; he shrugs slightly in reply, his expression turbulent as his flames flickered uneasily. For on one of the bar stools, slumped over just as much as Bonnie was at her table, was none other than Sans (or Snas, as you were now determined to call him at some point).

Ignoring his presence for the moment (but not out of spite – you simply didn’t want to alarm or embarrass him), you continue with your prime objective; getting a certain phone number. Walking with as much confidence as you could muster, you walk behind the bar – Grillby meets you as you enter.

“I’m sorry, y/n – I didn’t realise that he’d been drinking before-hand. I cannot apologise enough.”

“Don’t worry, Grillby; can’t be helped.”

You look over his shoulder hesitantly – for the moment, it appeared as if Sans had passed out, his cheek heavily pressed against the wood of the bar.

“Well, it seems like he’ll be ok for now; I don’t really know….how monster alcohol differs from the human variety?”

“It doesn’t really posses any such differences, to be frank – other than being quite a bit more potent. I imagine he’ll feel better for a rest, though.”

You sigh gently, pinching the bridge of your noise in thought, before shaking your head.

“I’ll need to have a talk with him, I guess. Does...he do this often?”

Grillby lets out a rumbling sigh, his flames crackling.

“He has. However, it’s been a while since he’s done so – in fact, since your arrival y/n. I’m not sure what could have brought this on; he didn’t want to talk with me. Which, sadly, is the norm – Sans has never been very good at opening up.”

You hum slightly in response; he’d never had any trouble in opening up to you (unless you count the ‘forbidden’ subjects), but that said, you had the same HP problem as he did – perhaps it was a case of kinship? Despite that, you already knew that he had a hell of a lot more locked up.

“Ok. Right. Well, for now, as you said, we’ll let him rest up…..then at the end of my shift…..well, we’ll just cross that bridge when need be. For now, I, uh….I have a _mission_.”

Grillby chuckles softly, arching a flame brow in intrigue, though he doesn’t press further on the matter.

“I see. Well, please, do continue, y/n – however, could you please take this order over to Johan, before you do?”

“I live to serve, Grillbz.”

He chuckles softly, before handing you a neon pink and purple drink with scents of almost every berry you could think of. Carefully you bring it over to the duke box, which is playing Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, all while Johan dances happily. He immediately notices your approaching presence, his grin slightly lopsided with the effects of alcohol.

“Heeeey, lil’ miss!”

“Hi Johan! Here’s your order.”

He gives you another wide grin, promptly downs the drink, and hands you the empty glass with a wink. Dazedly, you take it back, and wander back to a waiting Grillby, who takes the glass with a slightly tired expression and places it in the washing tub below the bar.

“I….I don’t know what to say.”

“I, however, do. _3_ …... _2_ …... _1_ ….”

There’s a sudden and very loud thud, making you jump; you look over to see that Johan had promptly passed out on the ground. You slowly look back to Grillby in shock, only to see him sadly shaking his head.

“Always the way. The second he gets to the point where he downs a glass, that’s it. And it also signifies that it’s time for the Royal Guard to leave. Y/n, could you please inform them that Johan has passed out?”

“Oh, uh….ok?”

Grillby laughs slightly at your confusion, giving your shoulder a deft pat – you still feel an inward astonishment that your clothes remain free of burns.

“You will get used to it, dear one. As long as you still enjoy working here, that is?”

“Uh, yes, very much so! Just…. _wow_. Didn’t quite expect it.”

His flames spark once again with amusement, before you make your way over to the dogs, who are currently in the midst of a heated poker game.

“Doggo you must be -”

“- cheating! You’ve had great hands for -”

“- four rounds!”

“Oh, lighten up. You’re just sore losers.”

Greater dog barks in a slightly miffed tone, where as Lesser Dog appears to be wearing a perfect poker face; still, you can see his eyes shifting slightly from side to side, as if reading his comrades.

“Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt, but…...Johan has passed out?”

The table erupts in groans and whines, before the dogs all stand; Dogamy, Dogaressa, Lesser Dog and Greater Dog all head over to where Johan was (assumedly to pick him up and take him home), while Doggo starts to pick up the cards and poker chips. You hop from foot to foot so you wouldn’t startle him.

“So….this happens a lot?”

He lets out an amused huff.

“Don’t let it bother you, kid. It’s been routine for a while now – Johan’s terrible for it, and we all usually leave pretty early thanks to our jobs, so it works out well. We all look out for each other, so in the grand scheme of things letting go once in a while isn’t so bad.”

You hum slightly in agreement, picking up the used glasses and plates, before turning to Doggo with a smile.

“Well, I hope you guys have a good evening – tell everyone I say goodbye, ok?”

He nods in return, and you carefully make your way to the kitchen, before placing the dirty items in the sink and heading back to the bar.

Now that your tasks had been completed, you square your shoulders in determination and make your way over to Mike and Steve, the latter of whom looks up with a smile; Mike appears to be too busy looking into his drink with an irritated frown, wheezing out wet breaths.

“Hey y/n! How’s it going?”

“Pretty good, Steve. Hey, uh, I have a favour to ask?”

“Sure, hit me.”

“Well, uh…..I have this friend, who likes you quite a lot. Would you consider giving her your number?”

Steve straightens, his expression shocked – clearly he didn’t expect you to say what you had.

“I, uh, ok, wow….is it….anyone I know?”

“Maybe? It’s uh….Bonnie?”

He covers his beak in surprise, but you can see his happy expression; Mike, meanwhile, groans, slapping his head down upon the surface of the bar.

“Oh man….I’ve been handing out my number for months, but no one ever calls.”

Steve immediately gives his friend’s shoulder a hearty slap in support, and receives a muted grunt in return.

“Don’t worry man, you’ll find your girl soon enough. But, uh, y/n….are you…. _sure_ she wanted my number?”

“Yup! More than.”

He blinks, thinking, before reaching out and grabbing a napkin, hurriedly scribbling something down on said napkin, and handing it to you.

“I, uh….thanks for telling me.”

“No problem. Can I get you guys anything, while I’m here?”

“I think we’re ok, thanks.”

“Ok then! I’ll see you later.”

You happily walk back to Bonnie’s table with your prize, only to see she’d fallen asleep upon her arms. You chuckle softly, and for a moment consider tucking the napkin in her pocket; but knowing that she might not notice, you then decide to wake her. You reach out and gently shake her shoulder, calling out to her.

“Bonnie? Hey, it’s me, y/n, wake up.”

She grumbles slightly, before raising her head and blinking up at you blearily.

“Oh….it’s youu….y/n.”

“Yup, certainly is. And look at what I have for you.”

You hold out the napkin, which she regards with confusion.

“A….* _hic_ * napkin?”

“Yup. And guess what’s written on the napkin?”

She seems to wake up at this, grasping the napkin with desperate paws and opening it, before squeaking in delight and hugging what she could reach of you – mainly your face.

“Oh! Oh! You’re the besssst!”

You muffle out a laughing reply, before she lets you go, carefully tucks the napkin away, and immediately slumps back into unconsciousness upon the table – you supposed all of that excitement had just about finished her off.

Shaking you head amusedly, you make your way back up to the bar to finish off the rest of your shift; a large bear monster had just stumbled up to the bar begging for a fresh round of cocktails and some fries, which meant you’d have the joy of manning the bar for a while.

 

And then, you supposed, you would have to think about how to get Sans home…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My oh my, I wonder what's made Sans drink again...? >.> *jokes, I already know, mwahaha*  
> Man, I love getting massages. Pity I don't get any. T-T *my back's so sore, help me*
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	35. The Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we drag home a certain drunk skeleton...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

The tail-end of the Friday shift was surprisingly calm, considering the earlier chaos – but then, it was pretty obvious why, as the majority of the drunk monsters had either left or passed out. Seymour could surprisingly hold his liqueur like an expert; you weren’t even sure that he was _close_ to becoming intoxicated. As such, he seemed to be the designated ‘driver’; as in, he picked up various unconscious monsters (Bonnie being one of them) in one vine, and ushered out the remaining drunken monsters with the other – you had to admire his grit.

Obviously, the next job was the clean up, which was considerably harder than dealing with the drunken costumers. At first, you’d insisted that Grillby let you mop the soaked floors, but he merely laughed in response, flames sparking.

“My dear, you are aware that I’m quite in control of my fire magic? The place will not become an inferno, I assure you.”

To prove his point, he purposefully placed a flaming finger into an abandoned shot glass – and nothing happened, apart from a slight puff of smoke. Obviously liquid effected him in a negative sense, hence his avoidance of water, but you were glad that at least the enormous quantities of spilled alcohol weren’t going to phase him.

And so, you both made quick work of mopping the floors, sweeping, and cleaning the surfaces, as well as picking up the dirty plates and glasses; you were on wash up duty, as Grillby wasn’t too keen on water; which lead to an obvious question.

“But…..who washed up before me?”

Grillby’s flames sparked in a way that suggested he was embarrassed (a theory furthered by the faintest hint of pink upon his cheeks), before he reached into the cupboard and retrieved a pair of bright neon pink, elbow length rubber gloves.

“….they are surprisingly effective at keeping out water.”

“….I imagine that they are.”

You try your best to bite down on your laughter, but end up failing miserably – Grillby only rolls his eyes in response, stuffing the gloves back into their home in the cupboard by the sink.

“Yes, yes, laugh it up – honestly, you’re just as bad as Sans sometimes.”

“Oh, so he knows your dark secret too?”

Grillby simply rolls his eyes once again, putting away some recently dried plates with a sigh. Still, the mention of Sans had once again brought up the questions of his drunken appearance – why was he here, how had he gotten himself into such a state, and how you were going to get him home….especially since you didn’t have a coat. Getting him to attempt teleporting home was out of the question – you were pretty sure trying to do something like that while drunk was a bad idea. You grumble slightly to yourself, scrubbing away at a particularly stubborn stain on a plate, and managed to slop soapy water down your front in the process; you squeak in response, scowling down at yourself as your shirt sticks uncomfortably to your stomach. Grillby wordlessly holds out a dry cloth for you to wipe yourself down with, which you accept gratefully, rubbing at the material in an effort to make it a little more comfortable as you finish up with the troublesome plate, placing it to the side to be dried.

“My dear….you needn’t fret. I’m sure Sans will be fine – after all, as I said, he’s been….doing this for a while….not that that’s a good thing, of course. In fact, quite the opposite...”

You frown up at him in concern as he sighs sadly, still rubbing furiously at your shirt, which was slowly becoming a little less gross.

“How long, if you don’t mind me asking? I just…..I don’t like the idea of him being unhappy.”

Grillby sighs once again, letting out a few short sparks as a result as he dried up the last of the now clean plates and glasses.

“It was around the time of his father’s death, I believe…..which is understandable. Yes, I remember that night far too clearly….he’d stumbled in, and demanded to be served, despite his young age. I, of course, refused, and he fell asleep after talking things over – right at the same place he has now, in fact. Always the same place...”

Grillby hummed softly, his expression vague and somewhat morose; you gently pat his forearm, successfully bringing him out of his reverie.

“How old was he, when his father passed?”

“...15. Papyrus was around 9, if I remember correctly….it was terrible.”

You can see that he was sad, but not quite in the way you expected – no, the shadow of absolute grief was clean upon his features.

“….you knew their father well?”

He coughed, his flames sparking in response.

“I did, yes. We were…. _good friends._ ”

You blinked, taking in his slightly embarrassed face and purposeful wording – it could only mean one thing.

“Oh…. _oh_! Wow, ok, I didn’t expect that.”

He released a deep chuckle at your reaction, placing the last of the now dry glasses into the cupboard carefully before sighing sadly.

“….I miss him. It never seems to get easier, that kind of pain.”

“…….I’m so sorry, Grillby.”

He smiles at you gently, before ruffling your hair affectionately; you freeze up slightly in surprise. Not that you should be all that surprised, to be honest; Grillby had that kind of fatherly air of caring around him, so such an action suited him.

“It’s quite alright, y/n. Sadly, you can never predict what happens in life; you can only keep yourself going as it progresses. Still, I….it’s a little strange.”

“What is?”

“….I suppose it might be that I never truly accepted him leaving us, but….I never felt his loss in my _soul_.”

You blush a little in reflex, but it appeared that Grillby was unaffected by the subject; he just looked into the air around the two of you in such deep thought you worried that you might lose him.

“You never….? I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand.”

Grillby blinks a little, appearing to recover for a moment to look at you, before realisation crosses his features.

“Oh, of course….y/n, I don’t suppose you’re familiar with the term of ‘soul mates’?”

“I am….it’s pretty rare thing, right?”

“To find your destined partner? Yes, very. But it’s certainly not unheard of…..and Sans and Papyrus’ father was mine.”

You feel your heart break for him – you couldn’t begin to imagine that kind of pain. It was bad enough having to imagine losing someone that you loved, but to lose someone who was literally the perfect match for your soul? You inwardly wondered how Grillby continued with….anything.

“Yes, he was….but that is not the point I am trying to get across, y/n. When one loses such….a person….you _feel_ it. The majority of beings simply give up when they feel that loss – it’s almost unheard of for the surviving half to….well….survive. But I never felt his loss, y/n….and I still don’t.”

“So, you think….that he might still be alive?”

Grillby nods, and you can see him trying his best to smile at you, even if his eyes are slowly filling with molten tears.

“I do. I always have, and as long as I can still feel him there, I _always_ will. I can only hope that one day he will return from wherever he may be, and then-”

He cuts himself off, gulping reflexively to try to control himself; you hug him automatically, not being able to stand seeing him in such a state – Grillby was always such a well controlled, calm presence. To see him close to losing any of that control was an almost painful sight. He tensed a little at your contact for a moment, clearly not expecting your reaction, before he lets out a rumbling chuckle and ruffles your hair once more as you let go.

“Thank you, y/n. I am….I am fine. Do not fret.”

“It’s okay not to be fine, you know? Especially with that kind of thing. I might be your employee, but I’d also like to think that I’m…..your friend. So not being ok sometimes….I’ll be here for you, for what it’s worth.”

Grillby stares at you in slight surprise, before making you jolt with the loudest laugh you’d heard from him to this date; he grins at you, his flames leaping up a little higher.

“I appreciate it, dear one, and I’m glad that you look at me as such. And you should know…..the same is true for me, y/n. I’ll be here to lend an ear whenever you should have need of it.”

You smile back at him, before letting out a slight huff, looking out to the bar where you could still see Sans slumped over.

“I uh….”

“It is alright. Everything is more or less finished back here; I will need to do some food preparation for tomorrow, and that will be all. You can go to him – I will see you for your next shift. That is, if I do not see you before then.”

He deftly pats your shoulder in farewell, before turning to another section of the kitchen. Knowing that you are officially dismissed, you make your way out, and hesitantly walk behind the bar – it would probably the best angle to wake Sans up without startling him.

You approach him carefully, taking in his relaxed expression as he slept upon the wooden surface, wrinkling your nose as you quickly discovered that he _reeked_ of alcohol – had he washed in the stuff, as well as drinking it? Shaking your head slightly, you leaned down so that you were more or less level with his face and tapped the surface of the bar; you weren’t too surprised that he didn’t so much as twitch. You blow a puff of air into his face; his features wrinkle slightly at the disturbance, and you have to fight off your giggles.

Thinking for a moment, the idea of revenge occurs to you – and so, you firmly poke his cheek. He grumbles in response, and you inwardly celebrate that this method was getting a slightly better reaction; you poke him again, jolting slightly when he raises a hand weakly to fight off the annoyance and failing miserably. You poke at his cheeks with both of your hands, now getting some sort of grim amusement from your task; he finally lets out a deep, rumbling groan, opening one socket drowsily – his eye-light was blurry, like a light being shone upon the surface of rippling water.

“Hey there, sleepy. You with me?”

He blinks, groans a little louder, and sits up slowly, swaying in his seat, rubbing his face with clumsy hands. With almost the same exaggerated slowness he looks at you, his eye-lights still possessing that blurry, rippling effect; you supposed that was what happened when he’d been drinking too much.

“….y/n?”

“The one and only.”

“…..whatcha…..doin’ here?”

“I work here, remember?”

“Oh….oh yeah.”

You hide your slight puff of laughter beautifully – his words were so slurred it was to the point of being ridiculous, but you could still understand him, just about.

“Now…..we need to get you home, ok?”

He murmured something in response, which you took for an affirmative; you made your way around the bar, before helping him off the bar stool – which turned out to be a hell of a lot more difficult than it sounds. You more or less had to carry him, and considering that he was quite a bit taller than you and a lot heavier than expected, it was surprising you managed to stay upright. Regardless, you slung his arm around your shoulders and pulled him to a vague standing position with an attractive grunt.

“C’mon big guy, let’s get you home.”

He hiccups out a laugh at this.

“Heh….I’m always the small one. Big guy….pfft.”

“Well, let’s face it, I’m the short one here, so I guess that makes you the ‘average sized’ one now.”

He lets out a burst of guffawing laughter, almost falling over in reaction, leaving you to keep him upright – you yelped in response, but you just about managed to keep him up and walking. You’d made pretty good progress, all things considered; you were almost at the exit. You were not, however, looking forward to making your way through the snow in your uniform and pumps; hopefully you wouldn’t succumb to hypothermia before you reached home.

“Ok, ok, now we’ve just got to get through the door, so work with me….”

He lets out a slight groan, but tried to be helpful with pushing the door open – or half open, but it was more than enough for the two of you to squeeze through the gap. You gasp slightly in response at how frigid the air was, and at the snow seeping into your thin shoes quicker than you anticipated when you exited the warm building, but you steeled yourself and soldiered on; the sooner you made your way through the snow, the sooner you’d be back home in the warm. Plus, your hurried movements might help warm you up a little as you travelled…..but that might have been wishful thinking on your part.

So you began your icy journey, tugging a moaning Sans along with you; thankfully having his side pressed into yours with his arm slung over your shoulders provided a little warmth.

“C’mon, bonehead – we need to get back.”

“….s’cold.”

“Yup, sure is; but at least _you_ have a jacket! Stop complaining.”

His voice echoes out across the swaths of snow as he grumbles deep in his chest; it was times like these that you were reminded how deep his voice actually was – well, it was difficult _not_ to notice when he was more or less breathing in your ear.

“Bleh, you stink….what were you drinking?”

“….fireball whisky.”

You wince at the name – sounded more than a little toxic. You brighten however as the sight of the familiar wooden building comes into view; you were almost home. You were slightly concerned by the fact that you couldn’t feel the vast majority of your legs, however.

“A-almost there….wait, t-the door isn’t locked, i-is it?”

“...might be. I’ve gotta key, though...”

You inwardly breathe a sigh of relief, noting that the house was dark; you really didn’t fancy being stuck outside for the night. You dragged Sans up to the doorstep, before trying the door with your spare hand – you thanked whoever on high for it being unlocked as you rushed in, manoeuvring Sans so he wouldn’t bash his skull open on the door frame. You shuffle your way to the couch, allowing Sans to sag down upon it, then hurriedly kick off your soaked pumps and prop them in the corner, praying that they would eventually dry out.

Your body was shuddering pretty horrifically now that you were inside, so getting dry, wrapped up and warm was definitely a priority….

….but you also had Sans to worry about.

Letting out a chattering sigh, you approached him; he appeared to be examining the ceiling in deep thought, but at least his wavering eye-lights flickered over to you as you stood by him.

“H-h-hey there. W-w-we sho-should get y-y-y-ou to bed, o-ok?”

His face expressed a concern that only an intoxicated person could have, as he struggled up to a swaying standing – you jolted in surprise as he bent, placing his forehead against yours. Admittedly, it was kind of a relief, as he was almost scaldingly hot (you assumed that it was due to the fact that you were freezing, but given the fact that he’d been drinking something called ‘fireball whisky’ you weren’t too sure), but for a second you were unsure of why he was doing it; before you realised he was checking your temperature.

“You’re so cold...”

“W-w-well yeah. I-I d-did just c-come h-h-home w-without a coat i-in a skirt.”

He begrudgingly removes his forehead from yours, before looking determinedly at the staircase, and stumbling towards it – you catch him just in time, placing his arm back around your shoulders.

“C-c-c’mon….”

You both make your awkward way up the staircase; it was a unique combination, given the fact that you were shaking like a leaf (to the point you were sure you were mimicking the juddering movement of a dryer on full spin), and Sans could barely stand thanks to his level of intoxication. But eventually, you found yourselves at the door to your temporarily shared bedroom – Sans was still trying to be a gentleman, so he more or less flung open the door Papyrus-style to make it easier for you to get inside; inwardly, you winced, but relaxed when you could still hear the easy snores of Papyrus sleeping in his room.

You all but throw Sans on the bed where he lands with a soft grunt of complaint, and hurriedly grab your pj’s to change – before remembering he was in the room. Sighing in a gently irritated manner to yourself, you make your way over and cover his eyes with a pillow; he makes a slight noise of protest, but otherwise makes no effort to remove it – you quickly change, your hands shaking as you pull on the comfy t-shirt and jogging bottoms, before shuffling back to the bed.

You gently take the pillow off of Sans’ face, and he blinks up at you with soft confusion.

“I-I had t-to change.”

“...’kay.”

You roll your eyes, before grabbing one of his arms to pull him back up to a sitting position; he groans lightly, but otherwise allows you to move him.

“C-C’mon, you ne-need to take off y-your hoodie.”

He nods in reply (or rather, lolls his head, but the implication was there), and works on shuffling his arms out of the sleeves; you meanwhile kneel down and take off his shoes and socks, before blinking slightly in surprise at the sight of his feet, having never seen them up close before – again, much like his hands, they looked more as if someone had painted their feet in the likeness of a skeleton, but if you looked closely, you could see genuine gaps between the phalanges. However, at the place where you’d normally see the metatarsals begin, the bone formed a solid plate, which only began to reveal traditional gaps again when reaching the tarsal bones. Shaking your head slightly to keep at the task on hand, you stand back up, just in time to dodge Sans’ hoodie as he finally managed to shuck himself from it; he offered you a weary, blurred, apologetic glance.

Now that your tasks were complete, you gleefully leapt upon the bed (Sans jolted in surprise, his socket angrily sputtering a slight blue in response; you’d been right in thinking that alcohol didn’t agree well with magic use), trying not to groan in joy at the delightful squishiness that you’d been missing all day.

You deftly pull back the covers, before yanking Sans down to lay next to you, and covering up the both of you; you wiggled your body and rubbed your feet against each other in an effort to create some friction and heat, your teeth chattering uncomfortably, the snaps seeming to echo within the confides of your skull. Sans turns to you with a puckered frown; you have to chuckle softly, seeing as his eye-lights were crossing just a little.

“I-I’m ok. J-j-just cold. I’ll warm up s-soon.”

You let out a slight yelp of surprise as he suddenly tugs you forward, embracing you – but thankfully, he doesn’t try to teleport you anywhere. On a normal occasion, you might have protested, but in this case you were far too cold not to take advantage of another’s body heat; you move closer, Sans shuddering in response to the feeling of your freezing body against his.

“...t-thanks.”

You don’t receive an answer, but you freeze up slightly when you hear an intake of breath. For an awful moment, you wonder if he’s smelling your hair, or something ( _oh, what great teasing that would make_ ), but as you look up him you see with shock that he has tears in his sockets; or what you would assume were tears. They were a bright, slightly luminous turquoise as they dribbled down his cheeks – his eye-lights quivered like candle light that was threatening to blow out as he looked down at you.

Without thinking, you reached up and gently wiped away some of his tears with your frigid hands, thumbs rubbing over the surface of his cheeks.

“H-hey, it’s ok. I-I’m warming up, don’t worry….”

“... _I thought I lost you_.”

You almost don’t hear his hushed words as he hissed them out, but you soon realised that this was more than him feeling bad about you being cold.

“...your dream, right?”

He lets out a chocked sob, closing his sockets as he leaned heavily into your right hand for comfort; obviously the nightmare had bothered him far more than you’d previously thought.

“Hey, hey…..look at m-me, ok?”

He does, his eye-lights a little steadier as they locked onto your gaze, his breath hiccuping slightly as tears continued to drip from his sockets.

“I’m not going _anywhere_. You’re not, either. Nobody is. We’re all here, and we’re all safe, ok?”

Gentle panic flooded his features, his breath hitching.

“B-but….what if….”

“No. I….I won’t allow it. Sans, if anything like your dreams ever did happen….I promise you, you wouldn’t be fighting it alone. I’d be there, right beside you – and I bet you _anything_ that everyone else would be, too. Ok? I won’t let you face that thing _alone_.”

He lets out a far more relaxed sigh, nodding against your hands, even if his features were still stuck in a heavy frown for the time being; he’d stopped crying by now, so you brought your hands back into the warm confides of the blankets. He let out a light whine at the lack of contact, and you felt his hands twitch slightly against your back, almost as if he wanted to physically stop you, but felt too tired to – you felt yourself flush slightly, before shaking your head a little, forcing yourself to keep to the task at hand.

“But….can you promise me something too, Sans?”

He growls softly at this, the noise gentle and sleepy in the back of his throat – having heard a genuine growl from him, you knew this was nothing more than a grumble, but he was clearly displeased with the idea.

“I….don’t like making promises.”

“Ok then. How about something to just keep in mind, then?”

He blinks gently at you, mulling over your words for a while, before nodding.

“Could you….if you feel the impulse to drink….just call me, ok? I’ll always be there for you, no matter the day, no matter the time. I...anything you want to talk to me about, you can. Even if you think it’s stupid, and not important – it’s important to me, because it’s _you_. And hell, we could always get drunk together at home and annoy Papyrus, if it came to it.”

He lets out a scoffed laugh at this; you couldn’t blame him, the image was pretty amusing.

“But….just know that I’m here. I don’t….want you to be sad. I want you to be _happy_. And I promise that for as long as I’m around, I’m going to try my best to ensure you’re as happy as possible. I just….I just want you to know that you’re not alone in this. I’m here for you – and I always will be, ok?”

You’re unexpectedly pulled tighter to his chest, and you squeak in surprise, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt in reflex.

“…..I don’t like making promises. But….I will this time. I….don’t know what I did to deserve someone like you, y/n.”

You blush lightly at his words, and at the position you found yourself in – but you also smiled softly to yourself at the implication. And if you admitted it to yourself, being held by him certainly wasn’t unpleasant….quite the opposite, in fact.

You hummed sleepily, snuggling into his chest a little more, allowing yourself to relish in the comfort and warmth; and it seemed that he mirrored your thoughts, sighing contentedly as you snuggled in closer.

 

“It’s a deal, then. Let’s get some sleep, ok?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....yup. So that happened. *POOR GRILLBAE AND SNAS*
> 
> Sooo, drew something depressing from this fic, ehehe  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/174506817116/im-the-lastsoul-you-need-so-uh-slight  
> And, uh....just in case you needed more depressing material....a certain scene from a genocide run? >.>  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/174723917061/malenchka-im-blaming-you-for-this-xd-and-i
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	36. Cold Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we discover that all actions have consequences....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!
> 
> Also....over 100 bookmarks?! :O You guys are crazy! And I love you! T-T

_You once again find yourself within the odd confides of the Void; it seemed to no longer be interested in trying to absorb your being, but that wasn’t to say it wasn’t uncomfortable to be in – no, it was as if you were stuck in the company of a being who merely tolerated your presence, all while looking down upon you constantly._

_Ignoring the discomforting feelings, you look around yourself, peering into the perfectly black space; it really did remind you of that material vantablack._

“ _Dings? Where are you?”_

“… _.I...am here, my dear.”_

_You blink slightly at the voice behind you, and will your floating body to turn to face him; his voice did not sound as it should – it lacked all the normal intelligent confidence it usually possessed, even when Gaster was in one of his more morose moods._

_You were right in your assumption; Gaster’s slightly melted features were drawn up in an expression nearing agony, which he was desperately attempting to mask._

“ _Gaster! Oh my god, are you ok?!”_

_He drew in a shaking breath, clearly not trusting himself to speak – you went to hug his frame, but he holds up a shuddering hand to stop you._

“ _I….I…..I do not **deserve** ….such things, y/n.”_

“… _.Gaster? What do you mean?”_

_He covers his face at this, clearly not able to hold his emotions back any longer as he sobs; you finally close the space between the two of you, drawing him into a hug while he cries in the way only someone who has lost everything dear to them would._

“ _Gaster….it’s not your fault. Whatever it is, I’m sure -”_

_He suddenly jerks away from your touch, and you dully notice that his tears are the same colour as his blush – a startling dark violet._

“ _No! No. It is my fault. I have…..I will never….”_

_He covers his face once again, his hands clutching his features with such a fierceness you worry about him injuring himself._

“ _Gaster….Gaster, calm down. You’re going to hurt yourself.”_

_He lets out a choked, bitter laugh, but ultimately calms down a little at your words._

“ _My dear….it is far too late for that. The damage I have already committed to my being….”_

_You sigh sadly at his words, but wait for him to gather his thoughts so he could talk to you; knowing him as well as you did by now, you knew that at times when his sorrow overtook him, he sometimes needed a moment to breathe and gather himself in order to speak._

_That said, you’d never seen him in quite a state as this – but in appreciation of your friendship, you accepted his boundaries. Eventually, his breathing evened out a touch more, and he managed to meet your eyes with a little more clarity._

“ _...I am sorry.”_

“ _Don’t be. You’ve been through a lot, so….you’re allowed to break down. You’re allowed to be sad. Just know that I’m there for you – I know you don’t believe me, but I honestly intend to do all I can to get you out of here….one way, or another.”_

_He smiled in a wobbly way at you, letting out a shaky sigh._

“… _.thank you, my dear. I appreciate it, and your friendship.”_

“ _So….penny for your thoughts?”_

“ _I….things have simply gotten to me, today. I saw a lot of people who I used to be….close to….suffering, and I was unable to do a single thing about it. As usual. But today it….”_

_His fists clenched, his expression twisting._

“ _I get it. Well, ok, I don’t, but I sympathise. Is there….anything I can do?”_

_He smiled at you ruefully, shaking his head slightly._

“ _No, my dear – you are doing all that you can, and believe me, I appreciate it more than you know.”_

_He hesitates slightly, before gently patting the top of your head; you laugh softly in response to his awkwardness._

“ _Whatcha trying to do there, Dings? My hair’s already a mess as it is.”_

_He scoffs out a laugh, withdrawing his hand; you could tell by his expression that he was feeling more like his old self now. Still, it worried you – before you somehow came to the Void, he was alone here all the time…..and he probably fell to pieces more often than you’d like to think. You were happy that you could cheer him up, and keep him company – but you’d be far happier if you could drag him out of this place of eternal darkness._

_But you had to wonder….what had made him as upset as he was today. He’d said that he’d seen people he cared about suffering, and he’d been frustrated over not being able to do anything._

_The only people you knew of who were suffering today were Sans and Grillby._

_Was….was Gaster…._

“ _Gaster….are you….related to Sans and Papyrus?”_

_He looked at you blankly for a moment, his expression unreadable, before sighing in a strangely sad tone, and shaking his head._

“ _... **no. No, I am not**.”_

_You frowned – you could have sworn that it all made sense. After all, he was a skeleton monster, wasn’t he? If you looked past his slightly melted textures, that is._

“ _But….aren’t you a skeleton monster? And you said that you have two sons -”_

“ _My dear, just because I am a skeleton monster, doesn’t mean that I am related to other skeleton monsters. You’re forgetting – our magic simply picks a shape when we are created. I would prefer if we do not speak on this matter further.”_

“ _...why are you getting so defensive? I just-”_

“ _I do not wish to discuss it further, y/n.”_

_You gulped; he’d never really snapped at you before like this. Must have been a very sensitive subject that you’d unintentionally strayed upon – perhaps it was some kind of taboo to assume relations like this?_

“ _Oh….I’m….I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”_

_He gives you a twitchy smile, before patting your head once more as your mind fretted over your obvious mistake. You hadn’t meant to upset him further – he was obviously still having a tough time with today, and if you’d just made it worse-_

“ _So, dear one – how was your day?”_

_Your attention is brought back to him, and his usual patient, but curious, expression; you were already quite aware that he’d probably been watching you from time to time, but you also knew that he almost relished in your conversations and views about what had happened. But then, it was to be expected from someone who was almost constantly alone. No, talking to him about meaningless, happy things was probably the best for now – sometimes distraction was the best thing for situations such as these. That said, you certainly wouldn’t forget it…..no, you’d have to bring up the subject of his family at a later date. After all, you’re more than sure they’d be happy to learn of his continued existence._

“ _Well, for starters, I slept like crap on Alphys’ couch….”_

 

_~_

 

You are awoken by a soft groan in your ear; you look up in slight alarm, your eyes widening in realisation that you were in the same position as you had been when you’d fallen asleep – wrapped up in Sans’ arms, held tight to his chest.

You struggle lightly for a few minutes, trying not to wake him, before ultimately giving up and flopping back softly against his chest with a huff.

Perhaps it was a monster thing to be ridiculously strong? Sans’ arms were like a vice around your form; not in an uncomfortable sense, but he certainly wasn’t going to allow you to move anywhere in the foreseeable future – not while he was unconscious, anyway.

Unable to think up any other solution, you poke his cheek gently; it had worked last night at the bar, after all, and still provided you with the revenge you were more than welcome to, given the amount of times he’d seen fit to attack your own cheeks.

He grumbled softly, but ultimately ignored your attack; you huffed slightly in annoyance. You were about to poke his cheek once again before it occurred to your natural curiosity that this was the closest you’d ever been to his face.

Even though he resembled a skeleton in the fact that his ‘skin’ was a stark white and the other obvious features, his face itself didn’t really hold all that many expected resemblances. Yes, he had black voids where ‘traditional’ eyes were (with his usual eye-lights), but he did actually posses eye-lids, which were obviously quite apparent while he slept. His face had that malleable quality that allowed him to pull his various expressions, which a normal skeleton would obviously never have – and the general structure of his head was also nothing like a human skeleton. In fact, it was more or less like a normal human head and face, if you ignored the fact he started to have obvious gaps where his neck began – but again, his neck looked more as if someone had painted themselves in the likeness of a skeleton, rather than the real thing. In fact, that statement seemed to ring true for the majority of his being. And, just like the surface of his hands, his face possessed that gentle, iridescent sheen, softening his features in a way no human bone ever could.

Your curiosity pushed you further, as you reached up within the cage of his arms to gently touch his cheeks; even though you already knew this thanks to the apparent poking battle between the two of you, his face didn’t feel anything different to how your own felt – aside from the slight buzz from his magic tracing over your skin, that is. His cheeks squished gently beneath your fingertips as you investigated, only becoming even more fascinated when you felt his face shift into a frown; there truly was very little difference between the two of you, when you looked at things from this perspective. Your fingers started to move up towards his brow – before you jolted slightly when he opened up his sockets to stare at you. Relief was palpable, however, when you saw his expression was more amused than anything else.

“Having fun there, bud?”

“Oh, uh, I’m sorry – I just got really curious?”

“I can see that.”

“...yeah. And it just seemed like too good an opportunity to miss? I mean, given I couldn’t actually escape….”

He blinks, before realising that he had his arms around you; you could swear that you could more or less feel the heat coming off his face as he blushed. He couldn’t, however, just push away from you, as he’d trapped his arms underneath you; karma really, considering how long you’d been trapped in his vice-like grip.

His voice stuttered out apologies as he attempted to scramble away; but his movements stopped as he processed your laughter and altogether chilled-out expression.

“Dude, relax – I mean, wait, you remember last night, right?”

He frowned slightly, unable to meet your eyes; clearly he did.

“So we just happened to fall asleep while you were helping me get warm; thanks for that, by the way.”

“Thanks for getting you warm, or being the reason why you were cold in the first place?”

“….both?”

He snorts at your confusion, appearing to be a little more at ease at the position the two of you were in; you couldn’t blame him, it _was_ pretty comfy.

“You know, you coulda just asked.”

You frowned at him, not quite understanding what he meant.

“….you know, poking my face and whatnot. I don’t mind – I mean, I can understand curiosity better than most, heh.”

“Um….could I continue, then?”

He nods slightly, grinning at you; you reach up eagerly, gently rubbing the edges of his sockets, not wanting to hurt him by accident.

“Are your eyes just….holes?”

“To be honest, I’ve not been as masochistic to poke myself in the eye, so I guess that will remain a mystery.”

You snort in response, moving your hands down to his smile, your eyes widening a little at the sensation of his ‘skin’ pulling back as he grinned at your laughter.

“You feel…..just the same as I do.”

“Well, how about that.”

You narrow your eyes at his sarcasm; he shrugs a little, before shifting his body ever so slightly.

“Hey, uh….d’you mind if I follow suit?”

You blink in surprise, before nodding a quick affirmative and wriggling just a touch so he could finally release his arms from around you. Gently he reached up to your face, an odd expression on his features, one that you couldn’t quite place; but you were soon distracted from your thoughts when you felt him poke your cheek.

“….really?”

He sniggers at your reaction, shoulders shaking, before continuing to touch your face softly, as if he was slightly afraid that he might break you. He followed similar patterns to you; gently pressing his fingertips against your cheeks and cheekbones, feeling the bones of your temples and brow.

“I’m guessing poking you in the eye is just as bad an idea as it is for me?”

“Yup. Please don’t.”

He chuckles lightly, before feeling how your skin reacted as you smiled; he smiled slightly in reflex at the sensation. Finally, his hands retracted, seemingly satisfied for now – his expression, however, was still a little odd. He almost looked as if he was on the verge of saying something, but thought better of it. Shrugging inwardly at his actions, you changed the subject.

“So, uh….I’m guessing monsters don’t get hangovers?”

“Sure we do. I’m just very good at hiding it.”

You huff slightly at this, not amused in the least for once; you weren’t stupid, you knew that meant ‘I’m used to it by now’. Sans’ smile faltered slightly at your reaction, but he seemed to get the message and quickly moved on – hopefully such things would be a thing of the past now….at least in a negative sense. As you’d said to him on the previous night; there was nothing wrong with letting loose once in a while, as long as it was for the right reasons and not to the point that he’d managed to get himself to….and as long as he was in good company. You just wanted him to be safe, and happy.

“What’s the time, bud?”

“You know, I’m not actually sure….hang on.”

You go to sit up, before a strange sensation echoes throughout your head and down your body; before you know it, you’re lying down again, with Sans looking at you with increasing worry.

“…. _oh_. You know, actually, I think I’m going to stay here for a bit.”

“….y/n, what’s wrong?”

A wave of dizziness suddenly floods you; you hadn’t really noticed it when you hadn’t been moving, but now that you had, you knew that it only meant one thing. A reflexive shudder goes through your being as your body accepted this fact as well.

“…..I, uh, might be unwell?”

You blinked slightly, noticing that the bed space beside you had very suddenly been vacated; you roll over, and whine at the spinning sensation which was progressively becoming worse, looking around for where Sans had poofed off to. You didn’t have to look for long, as he quite suddenly appeared by your side, feverishly reading what seemed to be a book on general diagnostics and treatment.

“Ok, ok, ok….what’s….”

He gulps, clearly panicking.

“Sans.”

“What’re your symptoms…? Oh man, oh man, what do I-”

“ _Sans_!”

He jolts at your raised voice, which doesn’t surprise you; you’d never actually had a need to raise your voice since falling Underground (unless you count dearest Flowey). His eye-lights flick to you, small as pin-pricks, clearly showing his stress at the situation.

“Ok, look….calm down. I-”

You groan as the room suddenly spins again, which couldn’t have come at a worse time, as it simply sends him back into a blind panic; he runs out of the room (which was honestly a shock; the last time you’d seen him run was when you’d first met him, and that had been definetely more controlled). Vaguely you hear him all but shrieking for Papyrus – you would have rolled your eyes, but given your current state, it was probably a bad idea. Dully you note that your body was starting to properly quake now, and your skin was becoming progressively clammy; wonderful signs that your temperature was elevated. You grumble, chastising yourself for not noticing sooner – you really should have expected it, walking through snow and freezing weather in nothing but a shirt, skirt, and pumps.

“Y/n?”

You open your eyes, not really being aware that you’d ever shut them, and see Papyrus kneeling by your bedside. He looked a hell of a lot calmer than Sans did, who was still feverishly flipping through the book behind his younger brother; you supposed it was keeping him somewhat distracted.

“Hey there, Paps.”

Your voice sounded unusually slow to your ears; you frown reflexively. It was probably the fever screwing around with your perception. Papyrus narrowed his sockets at your tone, and removed one of his gloves, before pressing the back of his hand upon your forehead. His magic was obviously very much like Sans’; his hand felt no different from a normal human hand, squish and all, though his actual hand span was nearly twice that of Sans’.

“Sister, you appear to have a fever.”

“Heh….you mean _femur_.”

He narrows his sockets at your weak pun, but to his credit, managed to stay on subject.

“What else are you feeling at the moment?”

“I’m pretty dizzy and weak – I can’t sit up, and it’s hard to move.”

Papyrus nodded at this, before turning, tutting slightly at Sans, and swiping the book from him. Sans merely blinked at this; it appeared that his panic had frozen him. Papyrus meanwhile flipped through the book himself, scanning the words upon the pages; before he once again looked up to you.

“Do you feel….nausea?”

“...no. I think it’s just a chill, if anything else.”

“Why would you have this….chill?”

Sans froze even more at these words (which you hadn’t thought of as possible, but he clearly proved you wrong) as Papyrus slowly turned to him; you couldn’t see the younger brother’s expression, but you could tell he wasn’t exactly happy at the present moment.

“Sans. Brother.”

“….it’s my fault – she got cold last night. I uh -”

Papyrus made another tutting noise, before standing up and handing Sans the open book, wriggling his hand back into the vacated glove. He turned once again to you and gently patted the top of your head.

“You will be ok, sister. And _you_!”

He turned swiftly back to Sans, which made him jump, his magic flaring for a brief second; Papyrus took slight pity on him, softening his tone upon seeing how stressed his older brother was.

“...Brother, you are here by put on duty – you’re looking after y/n, no questions asked. As is your responsibility.”

He looked over his shoulder at you, suddenly stage whispering.

“Not that I don’t want to, but I have training.”

You stage whisper back, holding in your laughter.

“I understand, Papyrus. Don’t worry about it.”

He nods in a formal manner to you, before pointing out a certain section in the still open book with lay in Sans’ hands.

“If you follow those instructions, brother, I believe that y/n will be perfectly alright….do not worry.”

Part of you wanted to ask what said instructions were, but upon seeing how relieved Sans’ expression was you decided to drop it for now. Plus, you had other things to focus on….like stopping the room from spinning.

“O-ok, bro, I gotcha.”

Papyrus takes further pity on Sans, patting the top of his head as he walked out, cheerfully calling out goodbyes; while you answered, Sans appeared to be too concentrated on reading to notice – or so you thought, for the second the front door closed, Sans blipped into oblivion. You sighed, accepting the fate that you were probably going to be showered in a million different treatments that were going to be completely unnecessary.

 

~

 

“….so you don’t need an ice-bath?”

“…I honestly think that it would be a terrible idea, given I got ill in the first place thanks to being in the snow.”

Sans flinches at this, and you feel more than a little guilty. Sure, he was being a total mother-hen, but he’d actually done a really good job. You had a mound of fluffy pillows behind your head, a cold-compress on your forehead, and he’d actually managed to dig out ibuprofen from your mess of medical items (you hadn’t organised the pile in the least, which was definitely now on your to-do list).

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m fine, see?”

“Y/n, you can’t even sit up by yourself, that’s not -”

“ _Urgh_. Sans, seriously, you’ve been doing a good job. I feel much better than I did, ok?”

“...you shouldn’t even be ill in the first place.”

He looks so deflated and lost when he says this – you mentally cursed yourself, for you wanted nothing more than to hug him and make him feel better. So, you settle for the next best thing.

“Sans. As your patient, I _demand_ that you come over here.”

He quirked a brow bone at you, his broken expression falling more into a confused state, which was far preferred.

“...what?”

“You heard me. Come here.”

You forced yourself to pat the bed space next to you, ignoring the vague spinning you felt as a result. Sans still stood by your bedside, however, looking at you with more confusion. You let out a sigh, putting all of your frustration into the noise.

“Sans. The bed space. Next to me. Sit on it. Or lie down, whatever….just come _here_.”

He frowned, shaking his head, which you attempted to let out a growl at; you failed miserably, making a long groaning noise instead.

“Why not?”

“It….it says you should eat soup, or something. Apparently makes things better.”

You puff out a breath, shaking your head gently, not wanting to aggravate the spinning.

“I’m not really hungry...”

“When did you eat last?”

“Uh….”

You think back, realising with a pang of guilt that the last thing you’d eaten were the instant noodles that morning after the anime fest at Alphys’. You wince slightly at seeing Sans’ expression as he realised the same – he disappeared without another word, and you mentally accepted the fact that he was probably rushing about, preparing the soup that you apparently so desperately needed. You sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t be horribly complicated to create, as you knew of some soups on the surface taking a good few hours to perfect.

You lay your head back against the fluffy pillows with a soft sigh; you shouldn’t really feel frustration at his actions. Sure, they were a little….extreme, but it showed that he cared. Thank god Papyrus was around earlier, or you had a feeling that it would have been much worse.

You jump a little as Sans suddenly re-appears, holding a bowl and spoon; he raises a brow bone slightly at your actions, gentle worry in his eye-lights.

“You ok?”

“Yeah, just didn’t expect you to be that quick.”

“Heh, magic, bud, remember? Some things can be put together really quick; you know, like the noodles you ate?”

You think back, then realise what he meant – the noodles had been hot and thoroughly cooked the second you opened the pot.

“Oh, I see. Pretty cool.”

He allows a small grin, before puffing out a breath and obeying your earlier wish of sitting next to you – he hands you your soup, which you take a heady breath of; you couldn’t quite determine what flavour of soup it was, but it smelt good, comforting….exactly what you needed. You thank him in a small voice, which he grins ruefully at as you ate your meal; you were surprised at your sudden hunger, and the soup soon dissipated into the confides of your stomach. At your satisfied sigh, he takes the empty bowl from you and teleports it into the sink. Then, there is simply a beat of heavy silence as he regards you.

“….I’m sorry.”

“Don’t-”

“No. Seriously. Letting you….letting you get to this state is irresponsible and horrible of me. I shouldn’t have just left you to deal with all of that by yourself. I’m sorry.”

You sigh gently, turning yourself carefully to face him, before looking up as steady as you could into his eye-lights.

“….I accept. Your apology, that is. I’m not angry or anything at you, though. Sure, getting drunk _really_ isn’t….that good of a habit to take up whenever you feel down, but I understand it. But I also know that you promised me that you’d talk to me instead in the future – if you’d just insisted with carrying on, I _would_ be angry. But you’re not. You’re trying. Sure, there’s consequences in the here and now, but that’s to be expected. Sans, honestly, none of what’s happened matters to me…..as long as you _try_.”

You hear a slight sniff from him, and roll your eyes as much as you could muster without making the room around you spin.

“Urgh, come _here_ you freakin’ marshmallow.”

You yanked on the front of his hoodie as hard as you could, which admittedly wasn’t hard at all due to your state – but he got the message and lay down next you. He froze up slightly as you snuggled up closer to him, putting your arms around his frame and your face into the crook of his neck; it was the only hug that you could give at the moment, and hugging him was something you were determined to do. He relaxed after a spell, and returned the hug, a slight humming noise reverberating through his body. You frown confusedly in reaction, lifting your head a little to hear it better, before giggling in surprise.

“Sans…..are you _purring_?”

The humming stops immediately, and he starts to stammer; you couldn’t see his face thanks to your current position, but you were pretty sure that it’d be a picture.

“N-no!”

You laugh more at his awkward stammering response, and he eventually joins you.

 

~

 

A few hours later, Papyrus returns home, and immediately heads up the stairs to check on how you were doing. Truthfully, he’d been quite worried about you when he’d seen the state you were in this morning – but he’d had to learn how to keep a clear head during his Guard training.

Truthfully, your illness wasn’t all that dissimilar to illnesses that monsters sometimes succumbed to – so he’d had some idea on how to treat you, and the book on human ailments had proved his theories correct. But he’d also known that Sans was truly the only person fit to look after you given the….

….unique circumstances.

He sighs gently, preparing himself for the worst when he opens the door to your bedroom (uncharacteristically quiet, but sacrifices had to be made in such cases) – and the scene he finds makes him shake his head a little with a gentle, happy ‘nyeh’ of laughter.

 

He closes the door softly, allowing you and his brother to continue to sleep, wrapped up within the confides of each other's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm, so I guess Gaster isn't related to them at all.....  
> Heh, I've been ill all freakin' week, so seriously channeling my inner need for snuggles here - can you tell? xD
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	37. Cooking Session: Start?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we plan a fun, relaxing day....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! Also....ALMOST 500 KUDOS?! *cries*

Your sickness lasted for a few more days, and sadly bled into your Tuesday shift. Grillby, however, insisted that he did not feel inconvenienced by this in the least – in fact, he told you to take the week off; but insisted that you take good care of yourself, and attempt to come in to see him before your Friday shift….and with a slightly ominous tone, he flat-out _demanded_ that Sans would be with you.

By the time Wednesday rolls around, you feel more than well enough to stand up by yourself, even if it did make you feel a little woozy; which wasn’t entirely surprising, considering you’d more or less been living on soup and the occasional piece of bread during your spell of sickness.

Sans had barely left your side during your time confined to your bed – Papyrus hadn’t minded all that much during the weekend, but by the time Monday had rolled around, he’d attempted to drag Sans out of the room and to work; not that it had really been a success, as Sans had simply teleported back to your side the second Papyrus wasn’t around to watch him (which had inevitably resulted in you just about jumping out of your skin and Sans apologizing profusely). Admittedly, you’d found it somewhat grimly amusing how he acted as if you were on your death bed, but had to ask an obvious question, one that had been plaguing your mind for quite some time.

“You know….I’ve often wondered…..what _if_ another human fell down here?”

Sans’ hands had clenched on the book he’d been reading at the time as he sat next to you and your pillow pile (a book on human illnesses; you had really hoped that it wouldn’t make him paranoid in the long run), his expression becoming a little tense.

“….I don’t think that’ll happen.”

“…..why not?”

He had sighed gently, giving you a pointed look.

“…..it just _won’t_.”

The matter had been instantly dropped, and hadn’t been re-visited since; you were more than a little curious as to _why_ he was so sure, but as with everything concerning Sans, you knew it was pointless to press – somehow, he always either managed to evade your questions….that or he’d completely ignore them, much your utter annoyance. It seemed that he would tell you when he saw fit to, and….you trusted him to. But at least it unveiled why he never bothered to put much work into sentry duty.

You hum to yourself lightly as you think back on that moment, pulling on some clean clothes as carefully as you could; after all, falling over or passing out would not be within your best interests. True, it was highly unlikely for another human to fall down to the Underground, given the general stigma the locals in Ebott possessed – but Sans seemed sure for an entirely different reason, one that definitely disturbed him in some manner, given how tense he’d become when you brought it up. You shake the ponderous thoughts away; the amount of questions buzzing in your mind was tortuous, and dwelling on them would definitely not help.

Not wanting to spend yet another day in bed, especially since you were feeling a little more like your usual self, you search your thoughts as to what you could do today….

….before coming to a genius conclusion.

You quickly head back up the stairs to your room (though still with some caution – you weren’t stupid), grabbing your phone and dialling Papyrus’ number, while simultaneously lobbing a pillow in Sans’ general direction as he lay asleep in bed (you receive an alarmed grunt in return, showing your endeavours in waking him had been successful, even if he did throw a grumpy look in your direction).

You wait excitedly while the phone rings, bouncing slightly on the balls of your feet (albeit carefully) in joy; Sans chuckles softly in reaction, stretching heavily, clearly forgiving you for your rude awakening upon seeing your much improved state of health.

“Sister! What a lovely surprise; I didn’t expect a phone call at all this morning! How are you feeling?”

“I feel much better, Papyrus! Whiiiiich is why I have an idea.”

“Nyeh?”

“I know it’s short notice, but do you think you’d like to have that cooking day I’ve been mentioning?”

There’s a short beat of silence; you could almost physically hear his struggle of wanting to keep to his training, but also becoming overcome with excitement at the chance of learning new recipes. Finally, his excitement wins.

“A wonderful idea, y/n! I shall be home in a few minutes.”

“Excellent! I’ll see you soon!”

You hang up, smiling happily at Sans, who returns the gesture sleepily.

“Cooking day, huh bud?”

“Yup! Which means you have to get ready while I phone Toriel.”

Sans makes a slight noise of discontent, but slides out of the bed anyway and shuffles past you to get himself looking a little more presentable (which, knowing him, would just mean a shower and throwing on the same hoodie he always wore). You hurriedly dial Toriel’s number, mentally crossing your fingers that she wouldn’t be too busy today; inwardly you felt a little rude for your spontaneous actions, but being stuck inside had driven you to a desperate edge where thoughts weren’t exactly clear – or perhaps that was just the lingering sickness.

“My child! How lovely to hear from you – is everything alright?”

“Everything’s ok; but I just wondered if you were busy today? I was thinking how nice it would be to have that cooking session….you know, with Sans’ brother, Papyrus?”

Instead of Papyrus’ pause for thought, Toriel’s answer is instant – you thank the stars that she wasn’t busy.

“Oh, how lovely! Yes my child, that would be a wonderful plan for today. When should I expect you?”

“Um….soonish? Papyrus needs to come back from training, and Sans needs to get ready….but soon!”

“Well, I shall see you ‘soonish’ then.”

You both chuckle gently, before saying your goodbyes and hanging up. You allow yourself an almighty stretch as you were alone, your spine snapping and cracking in reaction; you make a pleased noise as your muscles relax, before wandering out of the bedroom, down the stairs and towards the couch. You were right to assume that Sans was still getting ready – the shower was clearly still running, and you mentally thank the gods that you’d gotten ready ahead of time. Your thoughts of thanks are rudely interrupted however as the front door slams open a little more forcefully than usual in Papyrus’ excitement for the day – you jolt harshly, wincing slightly as the tail-end of your sickness protests weakly in the back of your skull at the action. Papyrus throws you a sympathetic glance, carefully shutting the door and gently patting the top of your head, which seemed to soothe the spinny feeling somewhat.

“Apologies, sister! I did not intend to frighten you.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m ok! Oh, you know, I’ve always been a little curious about this…..why do you always enter a room with such….enthusiasm?”

Papyrus tilts his head slightly at the question, his brow furrowed, but answers anyway.

“Well, it saves my voice! My actions announce themselves, you see.”

“And you leave quietly because everyone already knows that you’re there, so you don’t need to be as….uh….”

“Exactly! The great Papyrus always has a reason for his actions, after all! Nyeh heh heh!”

You giggle at his usual exuberance and eccentricity, happy that you’re allowed to put at least one mystery to rest, no matter how small. It’s at that moment that Sans exits the bathroom, dressed and ready for the day….in his usual hoodie, as predicted. Papyrus scowls slightly, appearing to have noticed this detail.

“Sans! When was the last time you washed that?”

“Uh….”

Sans almost visibly sweats as he attempted to summon up a pleasing answer, but finally coming up short. Instead, he shrugs, his expression apologetic. Papyrus grips the bridge of his nose in exasperation, taking in a deep breath, before letting it out.

“Never mind. Not even your slovenly ways can dissuade the happiness of this day! When do we head out?”

“I’ll just put my shoes and coat on, then we can go, m’kay Paps?”

Both brothers smile at you as you go about your tasks, Papyrus in obvious excitement as he bounced on his heels, and Sans in quiet relief as he relished in the fact that his precious hoodie had been spared….for now.

It’s at this moment that Papyrus lets out a sudden, and shockingly loud gasp – which was unfortunate, as it came at the exact time you were struggling to wriggle your foot into your boot while standing on one leg. You jolt in response at the noise, and to your horror, start to fall. But before you can even open your mouth to utter a gasp of your own, your imminent demise is halted by you falling face first into Sans’ chest.

“Whoa there, bud. You ok?”

His hands steady your shoulders as you fumble with planting your feet; but when you have, you look up into his eye-lights, your gaze brimming with gratitude – you really hadn’t been looking forward to starting your day with a face full of carpet.

“Yeah, I’m alright…..thank you.”

You turn away to finish tugging on the stubborn boot, only to be halted by Papyrus gathering you up into a hug; your now abandoned boot falls with a heavy ‘clunk’ upon the floor as you feel yourself being lifted into the air.

“Sister! I am so sorry! I truly did not mean-”

“It’s ok Paps, don’t worry – no harm, no foul, as they say.”

“They do?!”

Sans spurts out into sudden and loud laughter at this, earning a scorning gaze from Papyrus.

“….yup, they certainly do Paps. Anyway, uh, what was wrong? Why did you gasp?”

Papyrus finally lowers you back to the ground (you hastily kick your boot out of your landing zone in order to save the soles of your feet), his expression brightening at your question as Sans’ giggling is ignored.

“Well sister, it occurred to me that I am not in the perfect attire for such a situation!”

“….you’re not?”

“Indeed! I am currently in Royal Guard attire, when I should be in cooking attire!”

You ignore the voice in the back of your mind yelling that he always cooked in his armour, instead nodding along with his words.

“So you see, I must go change! Do you mind waiting a little longer?”

“Not at all! Go do what you have to do, Paps.”

With another grin in your direction (and another scowl at Sans, who was still fighting his laughter and losing), he all but leaps up the stairs, throwing open his door before running inside….and closing it quietly.

“….why does he have to announce his presence if his room is empty?”

“….I guess if he has an unexpected guest?”

You and Sans both stare at each-other for a moment, before shrugging almost in unison; it was just a Papyrus quirk, it seemed, which was more than fine with you (as long as it didn’t result in your heart failing).

Bending down, you finally manage to tug on your boot and wriggle your foot into place – and subsequently managed to fight off the powerful urge to cheer at this fact. Instead, you distract yourself by walking over to the dining table, looking down upon Rocky the rock with a frown.

“Penny for your thoughts, y/n?”

You blink back into reality, noting that Sans was now standing next to you as you gaze down at his pet.

“Uh….I’m guessing that this rock….is somewhat sentient, right? I mean, it needs….sprinkles, so-”

You’re cut of by Sans fighting to keep upright as he gasps with laughter, tears appearing at the corners of his sockets in response. You frown and grumble, feeling your cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“….or not, apparently. So….why exactly do you have an _actual_ rock for a pet, again?”

You wait patiently as Sans recovers himself, wiping his cheeks in order to rid them of tear tracks.

“Oh….oh man…. _heh_ ….well, it’s….low maintenance, so-”

“It seems your laziness really has hit _rock-bottom_ , then.”

Your weak pun only results in sending him back into yet more gasping laughter; you roll your eyes fondly, absent-mindedly poking at a few stray sprinkles upon Rocky’s plate as you waited for him to recover once again.

However, it seemed that this round of laughter had just about finished him off – you sigh to yourself with a shake of your head, giving up on conversation momentarily; you instead guide yourself to the couch, plonking yourself down upon the squishy surface and looking curiously at the pile of books next to you as Sans gasped for breath.

“Hey Sans…?”

He looks over at you, still wiping tears of laughter from his sockets, and chokes out a noise which signified his attention.

“Do you have a book that, uh….tells you a little more about souls?”

He sobers up almost instantly at your question as he hums in thought.

“Depends on the subject. Why, what’s up?”

“Well I…..I kind of wanted to know…..”

You gulped nervously, knowing the subject was kind of taboo….but your curiosity had to be sated.

“...how do I take out my soul? I wanted to see how the crack was doing, but….”

Sans lets out a slightly hitched breath at your question, but to his credit, he just about manages to keep his expression straight.

“Well….to be honest, I don’t think I have a book on it. But I’m sure that Alphys can tell you how, if you ask her….mind you…..”

He hums, his brow furrowing.

“….I’m not even sure if humans can take their own souls out.”

You lean back against the couch cushions, your own brow furrowing in thought as Sans comes to join you, all but throwing himself into the plushness.

“Well, that’s true, but…..didn’t Grillby say that there was a time that humans were more acquainted with that kind of thing? So maybe it’s possible.”

Sans’ expression straightens out at this, his eye-lights ponderous at the possibility.

“That’s true. Welp, bud, it’s worth a shot. Worst thing that can happen is that it won’t work, after all.”

Before you can answer, you both jolt in surprise as Papyrus’ door is thrown open, revealing the younger brother in all his glory. You blink slightly in reaction to seeing his new outfit, given you were so used to seeing him in his armour.

Papyrus was wearing a simple white cotton long-sleeved t-shirt, jeans, and an apron that had you covering your mouth to smother any laughter; it was obviously meant to say ‘kiss the cook’, but the word ‘cook’ had been hurriedly crossed out and replaced with ‘cool skeleton’.

Instead of laughing, you bite your lip and throw him a thumbs up as he leapt down the stairs, standing proudly in his new attire.

“You look great, Paps!”

“Why thank you, sister! Are the both of you ready to leave?”

Sans makes a show of stretching luxuriously out upon the couch, shutting his eyes as if he were about to fall asleep. Papyrus, however, does not have time for his shenanigans; he picks up his brother and tosses him over one shoulder – and to your horror, picks you up and places you carefully upon the other, before all but running out of the front door.

Panicked, you look over to Sans as you wriggled in his younger brother’s hold, frowning when you see him holding in his laughter unsuccessfully – you weren’t too sure if he was laughing at Papyrus’ reaction or your own…..it was likely to be both, thinking about it.

“ _P-Papyrus!_ ”

“Do not worry sister! We shall be there in-”

At this, he slams on the brakes, leaving you to squeak in reaction (Sans seemed to laugh a little harder at this).

“….sister, where are we going?”

“Uh, the door to the Ruins?”

At this, Papyrus starts to run at breakneck speed – you yelp, covering your eyes; as much as you trusted Papyrus not to drop you, if you were destined to fall, you preferred not to witness it. You uncover your eyes, however, when you feel an all too familiar poke to your cheek; Sans is grinning an easy and reassuring grin at you.

“Don’t worry – believe me, I’ve travelled by Paps express more than once on my way to my station; he won’t drop us.”

“Indeed! This is nothing compared to Royal Guard training, do not fret sister!”

Despite his words, Papyrus slows himself a fraction; he obviously didn’t want to spook you too much, which was nice.

So you swallow down your fear, instead focusing on watching the snow flurry that Papyrus was creating with his running; which lead you to yet another question that needed to be answered.

“Hey, Paps?”

“Yes, sister?”

“How do you not get cold in this weather?”

“Ah! Well, it’s all down to my magic!”

“….oh?”

“Indeed! You see, we skeleton monsters have a natural coating of magic around us! I simply add a little more on top – Undyne said it would be good for my training!”

Your eyes open a little wider in surprise, your admiration for Papyrus growing once again; you open your mouth to tell him so, but Sans beats you to it.

“You’re so cool, bro.”

Papyrus ‘nyeh heh heh’s proudly in response – you knew that he was probably blushing in happiness, but you couldn’t see his face to confirm it.

“Indeed!…..and of course, this extra coating means that I give the best hugs, yet another useful skill!”

You blink; never had you imagined that you’d be agreeing that a skeleton, of all things, was pleasant to cuddle – but you had to admit that being slung over Papyrus’ shoulder wasn’t as uncomfortable as you would have expected. And Sans was also quite….comfortable.

“...magic’s pretty cool, I have to admit.”

Any answer to your statement is cut off, however, by Papyrus slamming on the brakes once again, skidding in the snow before coming to a stand-still. You plant your hands upon the shoulder you’ve been thrown upon, pushing up to look around your person, wondering what could have stopped him this time – only to find, to your shock, that you had already arrived at the doors to the Ruins; Papyrus wasn’t kidding when he said that you’d be there before you knew it.

You let out a surprised, puffed-out gasp as you find yourself suddenly plopped on the ground, Sans standing alongside you. Mentally and physically shaking yourself, you approach the familiar stone of the door, raising a fist to knock-

-before jolting in shock as the door swings open to reveal Toriel.

She gathers you up in a warm hug, whispering apologies; you really weren’t sure how much more your poor heart would be able to take this morning.

“Hello, my child. You seem….”

She pulls back from the hug a little, examining your face with her calculative, mothering eyes, her warm paw placed comfortingly against your cheek.

“...a little off colour. Have you been unwell?”

You laugh awkwardly, shuffling your feet gently in the snow.

“...heh, caught me. Yeah, I needed a little bed rest….but I’m ok now!”

You grin, attempting to reassure her – she lets out a soft exhale of relief, smiling at you, but you could still see worry in her eyes; you supposed that she wouldn’t really be the embodiment of the word ‘mother’ if she wasn’t concerned.

“If you say so, my child. Ah! And you must be Sans’ brother, Papyrus. Forgive me for not greeting you earlier, I-”

Her words are cut off by Papyrus suddenly falling down to kneel in the snow; you’re about to bolt to his side in concern, when his words completely freeze up your motions.

“Y-your majesty! I apologise, I had n-no idea-”

You frown for a second, blinking in confusion, and only becoming more confused at Toriel’s reaction.

She chuckles.

“Oh, oh no, _please_ – Papyrus, you do not need to keep up such formalities in my presence. We are all friends here, after all.”

Papyrus immediately rises, shifting his boots in the snow, his expression unsure – but you had other subjects to worry on at the present moment in time.

“…..what? What does he…..what does he mean?”

There’s a beat of silence as you look from Papyrus to Toriel in confusion; Papyrus’ brow pulls together in confusion while Toriel pats your shoulder slightly, huffing out a heavy breath.

“My child…..well, I suppose this particular subject has never come up, but….you do recall me saying that my husband and I were…..estranged, do you not?”

You mind ticks over this piece of information, recalling what she’d said at that time – and suddenly it all clicks together.

“…..Asgore is _the king_ …..heh, I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.”

You felt yourself flush slightly at your foolishness; but most of all, you couldn’t help a certain thought that made its way to the forefront of your mind -

_Why didn’t anyone tell me?_

You supposed that you’d never really asked. But surely Sans had known? He’d seemed slightly surprised and….formal, now that you think about it, whenever you’d visited Toriel together, but you’d just assumed that he felt slightly nervous in her presence.

_Why didn’t he say anything?_

_I’m a complete and utter idiot for not realising this sooner._

You shudder slightly as a peculiar sensation echoes throughout your soul, and you immediately clamp down on any other negative thoughts; you really didn’t want to re-open the crack in your soul, or anything of the like, after all.

You’re further shaken out of any dark thoughts by Toriel gently patting your shoulder once more, smiling in a sad way, as if she could read your mind.

“My child, I am so sorry – I should have explained to you sooner. But in any case; let us proceed inside…..I wouldn’t want you to become ill again.”

You chuckle softly at her worry, but follow her orders and start to make your way inside;  when  it suddenly occurs to you that the brothers had been awfully silent for quite a while, so you turn yourself slightly as you walked to look  back  at them  as they followed you in.

Papyrus seem ed  a little  more like his usual self, though he was obviously sheepish –  whether that was due to being the in  sudden  unexpected  presence of his queen, or due to unknowingly  causing some kind of dramatic revelation. 

Sans, however, was a whole different story – he had his head down, as if finding the floor incredibly interesting, but his expression was a mixture of something akin to shame, and….

 

….obviously, even if it was slight, _pain_.

 

You frown, not wanting him to be upset, but not wanting to approach him at the present moment, either; he was obviously upset at your reaction to finding out Toriel’s status. So he must know, surely, that he could have told you, no,  _should_ have told you,  even if you’d apparently been a complete idiot and not realised it by yourself.

You didn’t want to be angry at him, or anything close to that, but….you couldn’t help feeling a little betrayed.

Sure, Sans had proved on more than one occasion that he liked to keep certain cards to his chest, but you didn’t see any kind of logic in him keeping this certain piece of information from you.

She was your  _mother_ , even if it was ‘adoptive’. 

You trusted him, you trusted him more than anything – perhaps even more than your other friends, and your trust with them ran deeper than you would have ever imagined.

He was your best friend.

 

….but why didn’t he tell you? Was there something….more to this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What, you thought this was just gonna be a fluff chapter? Pfffffft  
> Wonder what secrets Sans has been keeping now...?
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	38. Of Donuts and Poisons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we have a chat with Sans...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

“Well, here we are!”

Toriel gestures as grandly as she could to her warm and cosy living room; she was obviously trying extremely hard to break any tension from the previous revelation – you allow yourself a small smile at her efforts, considering you were already well acquainted with the interiors of her home.

“Lady Toriel, your home is very nice indeed!”

You feel vague surprise upon hearing the title, still not accustomed to Papyrus’ formalities; Toriel lets it slide however, smiling in a kindly manner at the younger brother.

“Thank you, Papyrus, that’s very kind of you to say. Well now….since we have gathered here with the intention of cooking, is there anything you would like to practice, or learn? It is quite alright if you cannot think of anything off the top of your head – I have plenty of recipes I would love to share.”

Papyrus blinks slightly, once again shuffling his movements awkwardly; he was obviously fighting his usual, confident manner in order to appear polite – you could only hope that he would relax in due time.

“Well, I….I am afraid that I cannot think of anything at the moment….but do not fret! I would love to learn one of your recipes, Lady Toriel. I promise that for our next lesson, I will be far more prepared!”

He lets out a muted version of his usual laugh; you smile in slight relief, knowing that this was a good sign of him becoming a little more comfortable with the situation. Though you had a sneaking suspicion that he’d have more trouble with her ‘title’ – after all, it took him quite some time to utter your name, and you _lived_ with him.

“Wonderful. Well then, I believe…..yes, that might suffice. Papyrus-”

She suddenly leaned in close, whispering something to him; you were suddenly quite conscious of your stature, but the feeling was becoming familiar, given your workplace and constant interaction with monsters – once again, you were happy that Sans was closer to your height.

You frown to yourself as his name enters your head, wrapping an arm subconsciously around your chest; you still couldn’t bring yourself to look in his direction. You knew on some level that you were being incredibly immature, but you couldn’t help your feelings – you already knew that he kept a lot of secrets, and you trusted him, but….

... _why am I so upset about this?_

Perhaps it was just one secret too many.

Ignoring the odd feeling of discomfort in your soul, you concentrate on Papyrus’ look of shock at Toriel’s sudden close proximity to him – but he soon relaxes and nods along with her words as she pulls away.

“-how does that sound?”

“A wonderful notion, Lady Toriel!”

She smiles softly; you couldn’t help feeling oddly pleased at her expression. She was obviously really looking forward to this cooking session, even if it had come with a little drama on the side – you felt a sudden, burning determination to not ruin it for her, even if it did mean pinning down your feelings…..at least momentarily.

“Lovely. Now then – would you two prefer to sit in here while we work, or would you like to perhaps join in…?”

You hum, slight anxiety colouring your voice – you really didn’t want to face up to a possibly confrontational conversation at the moment, especially not in Toriel’s sitting room. That said, you also wanted Toriel and Papyrus to bond a little over the joy of cooking – you didn’t want to get in the way of them getting to know each other and becoming a little more comfortable in each other's presence. After all, Toriel didn’t seem to have that many friends, let alone ones who enjoyed cooking – and Papyrus, you knew, would always relish the idea of gaining new friends.

It then suddenly dawned on you that there was a third option.

“Oh, is it ok if I go out into the Ruins instead? It’ll be nice to see everyone again.”

Toriel smiles warmly at your idea, but you do notice that she seems to cast Sans a pitying glance for a fraction of a second before returning her attention to you.

“That’s a lovely idea, my child. Sans, will you be accompanying y/n?”

The room falls into silence at her question. As the silence begins to awkwardly stretch, you turn slightly, finally looking in Sans’ direction – only to start in surprise as you see him looking in yours, his expression searching your own, his eye-lights almost burning in their fierce concentration.

He finally relents, turning his attention to Toriel; you feel your muscles release a tension you weren’t aware you had been holding.

“….yeah, sure. Ready when you are, bud.”

You gulp reflexively at the tension, and act on impulse – you stride across the room and hug Toriel tight, catching her by surprise as you gain a little more confidence with the situation within the softness of her fur; she recovers quickly, however, hugging you back with a gentle sigh, before releasing you.

“Be safe, my child. We shall see you soon.”

You give her a wobbly smile in response to her words, trying to calm your still slightly panicked mind.

“Yup! I’m sure you guys will have fun – see you in a bit, Paps.”

Papyrus smiles brightly, patting the top of your head.

“See you soon, sister. Brother! _Take good care of y/n_.”

You blink a little in surprise at his words and expression; they clearly carried a slight threat….but perhaps your nervous mind was just misinterpreting things. What you didn’t misinterpret, however, was Toriel’s surprised expression at Papyrus’ words – for a second, you wondered if she had noticed the same thing that you thought you had, before she spoke in a slightly stupefied tone.

“I’m sorry, but….is there a reason why y/n is known as ‘sister’?”

Papyrus actually jolts at this, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously as an expression of slight guilt crossing his features – an action you’d only ever seen his brother pull; it didn’t suit him one bit.

“It’s Papyrus’ cool nick-name for me.”

The attentions of the room turn to you before you even compute that you’d spoken up. Toriel’s expression still expresses that vague surprised confusion it held before, but you feel yourself growing more confident when you see Papyrus’ face – his previous nervousness was slowly being replaced with his usual glowing, confident happiness.

“Yeah. It’s due to me, uh…..I have reached a level of friendship with Papyrus that equals the friendship he has with his brother, so….I’m now called sister.”

Toriel smiles warmly at your words, despite her eyes carrying just a hint of confusion; you could understand, as Papyrus could be considered…..quite eccentric. But his heart was in the right place, and you wouldn’t change him for the world.

“I see. Well, what a lovely concept! I’m sorry for the confusion, Papyrus.”

He straightens himself at her words, his usual, bright smile returning to his face full force.

“No problem at all, Lady Toriel!”

She smiles wider in reflex at his joyful expression, and you feel your mood lift – yes, you were sure that the two of them would get on.

“Right then – we’ll, uh, see you later then. Have fun!”

Without another word, you turn on your heel and hurriedly make your way through the living room and out the front door, slowing a little as you took in your surroundings; it was such a peculiar feeling. You’d lived with Toriel for months, seen the same things around you everyday, yet all of a sudden the familiar had been all but forgotten. You supposed that was the nature of life; always moving forward, always changing, and yet staying the same in some strange respect.

You glance up at the leafless tree as you pass, mindlessly trailing a hand against the smooth, knotted texture of the bark as your thoughts wandered – your actions ceased however when you realised you’d all but forgotten that Sans was probably following you.

Your turned slightly to confirm this, and jolt harshly when you notice that he’s more or less within a hair’s breath behind you.

“ _Holy shit_ -!”

He jumps in response to you starting and practically screaming in his face, taking a reflexive step back as he does so. You clutch at your chest as you return your breathing to something regular as you recover from the shock, glaring at him. You open your mouth to mutter more expletives, but choose instead to turn back around and continue to walk with an angry huff; you still weren’t what you would call pleased at him due to earlier events, and him giving you potential heart-attacks was not helping your mood in the least.

You almost reach the entrance to the room where your tiny spider friends would be waiting before you feel a hand clasp down on your shoulder; with a heaving sigh, you cease your angry marching, stopping dead in your tracks.

For a while, you both stand there in silence, his hand upon your shoulder, the buzz of his magic filtering through the material of your clothing and dancing upon the surface of your skin. You let out another sigh, knowing he probably wasn’t going to speak, even though he’d been the one to reach out to you.

“….why didn’t you tell me? I mean, I know that I should have figured it out by myself, but….why?”

You hadn’t meant to come straight out with the question, but your lips were already forming the words before your mind had caught up. You feel the hand upon your shoulder grip a little tighter, before releasing you; you turn, expecting his closeness this time, but not his expression – his eye-lights burned with emotion, his mouth drawn taut in a frown. The majority of the time you’d spent with him, he’d been smiling – sure, you’d seen him sad and even angry before, but you just couldn’t put your finger on what emotions his expressions were portraying at the moment.

He finally looks away from you, letting out a sigh of his own.

“In all honesty? I forgot. I know, it’s so stupid, but I did.”

You look at him incredulously, opening your mouth to retort, but he cut you off.

“I’m an idiot, I know.”

“….you’re not an idiot. Well, ok, you _are_ in this instance, but you aren’t usually. No, I….”

You grumble to yourself, scrunching a hand over your face in frustration.

“...I just don’t get how something that important just passed me by, you know? I mean, she’s….she’s my _mother_ , and her ex is the guy who wants to kill me and take my soul? It’s just….”

You start to laugh slightly hysterically at the situation, shaking your head.

“….if anyone’s an idiot here, it’s me. I had all the pieces laid out in front of me, but I still wasn’t able to put them all together.”

You shake your head once more, releasing your face from the confides of your hand to look back at him.

“….anyway. Sans, look, I know you didn’t withhold this on purpose or anything, but….I _need_ to know things like this. I….I don’t want to be blind. Even if I should have….I should have known, it would have helped a little if you just….mentioned it? I don’t….heh, I don’t know.”

He regards you silently, his expression almost blank with seriousness, before he lets out a nervous breath.

“I….you’re right. There are things that you should know, things other than this, but….”

His expression turns awkward, his body shifting as if he was tempted to run away from his words as he was producing them.

“...there are also things that I can’t tell you at the moment. I just _can’t_ , it would just -”

You hold up a hand, stopping his words instantly.

“….it’s ok. I know there are things you can’t talk about, even if I don’t know the reasons yet. That’s fine; it would be unfair of me to expect you to lay everything bare. But, in instances like this? I need to know. Even if it seems obvious. I mean, I’m kind of….ignorant when it comes to things in the Underground, you know? I want to….I just want to know what I’m dealing with.”

He shifts, rubbing at the back of his neck, his expression thoughtful; before he nods.

“Yeah….yeah, I can do that. I’m….I’m sorry, y/n.”

His expression becomes intense once more as he stares at you directly; you cough a little, surprised to find that your cheeks have flushed without your acknowledgement.

“I-It’s ok. Just….I mean, did you know from the get go, with Toriel, I mean?”

He blinked, his expression becoming a little less intense as he thinks back on it.

“Yeah, I….I was pretty young when they split up and she disappeared, but I still knew what she looked like. All monsters do.”

“Wait – disappeared?”

“Yeah….she just left in the night, apparently, after the announcement about humans being killed for their souls was publicised – didn’t say a word, just disappeared.”

“...what caused it? You know, the sudden change from letting humans who fell to live out their lives to...killing them?”

Sans’ expression turns grim at your words.

“….the short story? The king and queen’s kids died.”

Your expression obviously betrayed your shocked confusion.

“...yeah. It’s not really my story to tell, but….ah, you know, this is kinda a long one. Wanna sit down somewhere?”

You think on it, coming up a little short; the Ruins were predominantly composed of carved stone, after all.

“I can only suggest sitting on the floor against a wall, to be honest.”

“Heh, as long as you’re fine with that, it’ll be ok.”

You start to walk once more, before remembering your tiny spider friends – ignoring Sans’ curious stare, you enter the room.

“Hey guys!”

Tiny overjoyed squeaks erupt from the webs as the spiders excitedly say hello in their own way, clambering over each other to wave tiny legs in your direction. With a smile, you dig out enough gold for two donuts, plopping the currency into the web as the spiders busied themselves with getting your order.

“Huh….didn’t know she’d set up a shop out here too.”

You collect the sweet confections, murmuring numerous thanks to the spiders, before turning to Sans with a questioning brow as you made your way out the room.

“Who?”

“Oh….she’s kind of the head honcho when it comes to spider monsters; she’s named Muffet. Yeah, she has a bakery over in Hotland, but I had no idea she was branching out to other areas of the Underground…..still, seems a little weird to start in the Ruins, considering there’s not that much in terms of populace.”

“Maybe that’s the point? You know, get some of those sweet goods over to the monsters who can’t get to her.”

He chuckles at your words, mimicking your actions when you choose a good section of wall to slide down just before the room where there were numerous pit-falls; as funny as it would be to see Sans fall down one, that would just have to wait.

You hold out a spider donut to him, feeling surprised when he didn’t take it; he looked almost wary of it.

“What’s up?”

“Well….usually these things are crazy expensive.”

“But they’re not here.”

“….no.”

“…..you gonna take it, or not?”

He sighs, taking the sweet from you. Grinning inwardly at his peculiar actions, you bite a heavy chomp out of your own, groaning happily at the taste. You swallow, sighing in a satisfied manner.

“You know, these were actually one the first types of monster food I tried…..but, uh, kind of getting side-tracked. I believe you have a story?”

You look over, feeling vaguely surprised when you see Sans brushing the remains of sugar from his hands, donut completely demolished; though you probably shouldn’t be, considering the speed he could inhale other foods.

“Yup. Well, uh, I guess it starts with Toriel and Asgore having a son; his name was Asriel. Cute little guy, apparently – very kind, forgiving, you know, all of those nice qualities. While he was still pretty young, he was wandering in the Ruins one day when a human happened to fall – and the human was more than a little hurt. On the verge of death, basically. So, he brought that human to his parents, who nursed the kid back to health….the king and queen took the kid in as their own, and for a while, everything was great – the kids adored each other, barely a day went by that they weren’t practically glued together. Monsters found new hope in their friendship – keeping in mind the war was still pretty fresh at the time.”

You smile a little at this, despite knowing that this particular story wasn’t going to end well; you ignore your thoughts, favouring the rest of your donut instead. As you brush the remains of sugar off your hands, you turn with a questioning brow to Sans.

“What was the human’s name?”

Sans stops, his expression becoming slightly hard.

“….it was Chara. Their name was Chara.”

You frown at his expression, about to question it, but he continues before you can.

“Many years were spent like this, just peace and happiness. But suddenly, the human got sick – real sick. And no matter how much they were healed, they just kept getting sicker. And one day, they inevitably died from their sickness.”

You make a small noise of sadness at his words.

“Now, the king and queen were obviously distraught over this, and a quiet meeting was held to discuss the matter of the human’s soul. But little did anyone know….the kids had actually planned the whole thing.”

Your eyes widen, a hand raising to cover your mouth in your shock.

“The human knew about the barrier – and couldn’t stand the idea of the monsters being trapped Underground. So, after convincing Asriel to help carry out their plan, they poisoned themselves, and kept at it until the end – after all, even healing magic can….fail if the damage is constant. And while the adults were talking things over….”

You could see where this was going, and it was starting to make you feel sick.

“...Asriel absorbed Chara’s soul, and crossed the barrier.”

“Wait, what? I thought the barrier could -”

“Yeah, that’s the thing about the barrier. Uh….well, we didn’t know it at the time, but a monster who’s absorbed a human soul can cross – almost shorts it out. Don’t know how the kid worked it out, but they did.”

You allow your head fall back on the stone wall with a low whistle.

“Geez.”

“Yeah. Anyways, before anyone could stop them, they crossed the barrier…..and by the time everyone realised, it was too late. When the king and queen finally reached the barrier, Asriel….was dust. He’d been attacked by humans on the other side, and had just been able to make it back. But….yeah. That’s the story, well, the short version, anyway.”

“That’s….”

You curl up slightly in on yourself, your head upon your knees.

“….that’s so sad. God, I can’t even imagine…..you know, I mean, I know it’s not right, but….I don’t think I can blame Asgore. For the initial reaction, I mean, not….not continuing it.”

Sans lets out a huff next to you, stretching his legs slightly.

“Yeah. Grief can make you do some crazy stuff.”

You look up at him at his words, noting his far away expression; you gently poke his side with your elbow, before sitting up straighter, stretching out your sore limbs (sitting on the stone floor was not the comfiest thing in the world).

“I’m sorry that you had to go through it. Grief, I mean.”

He gives you sad smile at your words.

“Yeah, so am I.”

Unable to handle his expression any longer, you all but tackle him in a hug; he makes a strangled noise of surprise in response, before eventually reciprocating with a sigh, his body sagging against the wall as he allowed himself to relax.

Eventually you pull back, leaning back into your wall space with a soft grumble; but at least he was smiling with some joy, now.

“Y/n!”

Your head whips to the side where the voice came from, your face breaking into a smile upon seeing largest Froggit hopping eagerly to where the two of you are sitting; when it finally reaches you, it slaps a foot down upon your leg – you were more than used to this greeting, so you didn’t so much as wince at the slightly cold feeling against the surface of your jeans.

“My friend, it is lovely to see you again. Miss Toriel said you’d been out into the other areas of the Underground – are you quite alright?”

You smile, patting the webbed foot upon your leg in a comforting manner.

“Yes, I’m fine; more than. Oh! I want to introduce you to Sans – he’s actually the one who made sure that I was ok out there, heh.”

Froggit looks over in Sans’ direction, head cocking slightly to the side as it analysed him silently, before croaking out in a positive manner.

“Thank you, young man – looking after this human is certainly a good deed. This human always uses mercy; a rare thing indeed.”

You sigh sadly at largest Froggit’s words, shaking your head.

“It’s doesn’t have to be. It _shouldn’t_ be…”

Your words trail off; you couldn’t really defend the human race, given the horrors they often subjected upon each other – you could only imagine what they would do to monsters, who were all so unique and different. And while you’re sure more than a few humans might find those facts as wonderful as you did, you’re also more than sure that the rest would want to tear them to literal pieces. You wanted to hold hope for humanity, but…..they would need a lot of work, and you knew a lot of people wouldn’t show any interest in changing.

Instead of continuing, you sigh, leaning back against the stone wall, giving largest Froggit a sad smile; you could see that they understood.

“So, Froggit, how’s everyone else doing?”

“We’re all well, young one, do not fret. Now, I must get back to my family….unless you wanted to get some training in?”

One look at Sans’ stony expression is all the answer you need.

“Ah….well, I’m a little busy at the moment, but some time in the future, perhaps?”

Largest Froggit croaks happily, giving you one final pat before hopping off down the hallway. You stretch against the wall, squirming in discomfort, before looking back at Sans.

“Hey, you wanna check out the rest of the Ruins? It’s not crazy big, but it’s pretty cool…..heh, pity that Paps can’t be here, I’m sure that he would have wanted to check out all the puzzles.”

“Eh, if the cooking sessions become a weekly thing I’m sure he’ll do it at some point. And yeah, sure, sounds good.”

You get to your feet, slightly relieved at not having to sit on the floor any more, waiting until Sans had also risen before you merrily continue your way through the Ruins.

Irritatingly, Sans does not fall in any pit-falls (he simply teleported to safety whenever he felt his feet give way), but he did become more than a little spooked at the spike traps, obviously expressing the same concern you’d had when you first encountered them (nobody explicitly wishes to become a shish-kebab).

Eventually, you made your way to the massive staircase; the rose petals floated as gracefully as ever down from the ceiling, falling into the velvety puddle that coated the floor. Sans seemed almost spellbound by the sight, his eye-lights wide as he focused on each falling petal as they landed.

“It’s beautiful, huh?”

His eye-lights travel over to you, a small smile breaking on upon his face.

“….yeah, really beautiful.”

You smile back, making your way down the stairs, trying your best not the trip and fall (it had happened more than once while you’d been living in the Ruins, much to Toriel’s horror). It was then that you noticed your long term enemy – the golden star.

You narrow your eyes at it, approaching as cautiously as you could….before swiping at it. It disappeared, as expected, but that didn’t stop you stomping your foot in annoyance, sending up a flurry of petals in your rage.

“Uh….whatcha doin’, y/n?”

You blink, realising how stupid you’d just made yourself look.

“….um.”

You let out a nervous laugh as Sans approaches, his sneakered feet softly padding through the mess of petals, a confused smile upon his face.

“Heh. Long story short? Random star thing that I occasionally see and always try to catch – but I _never_ can. Annoying as hell. Heh, don’t know if you even know what I’m talking about, but...”

Your words trail off as you notice that Sans had stilled at your words, an expression crossing his face that you couldn’t quite define – it seemed to be a strange mix between fear and relief.

“...Sans?”

“I, uh…. _heh_. That’s certainly weird, bud. So, what’s next on the tour?”

You frown, studying him for a spell; this was obviously something he didn’t want to discuss. You just hoped that it wasn’t something important.

“Well, next is where I landed….then we’ve reached the end. Or beginning? Eh.”

You continue onward, Sans giving you a surprised glance.

“Huh, you weren’t kidding when you said it was small.”

“Yup. Snug and homely.”

He chuckles under his breath as you shove at the heavy stone doors; but try as you might, they would not budge an inch. You start slightly as Sans suddenly puts his hands on either side of your shoulders as you pushed.

“...here, let me help you out.”

He pushes the doors open with ease; you’d been right about your assumption of him being crazy strong.

“Holy crap, Sans.”

“….what?”

“That’s so cool – is that just a monster thing, being so strong?”

He blinks, then appears to think about it for a moment – before shrugging.

“No idea, to be honest. I wouldn’t say that I’m overly strong, though.”

“Apart from your magic.”

“Yeah, apart from-”

He cuts off his sentence, narrowing his sockets at you as you smiled innocently, nonchalantly walking through the doorway, and quickly making your way down the corridors to the pile of glowing yellow flowers before he could reprimand you. You gesture grandly to the flower pile when he catches up, adding in a little jazz hands for dramatic effect.

“This is it! This is where I landed.”

Sans immediately looks up, frowning into the darkness.

“….that’s a long way up.”

“Yeah. I broke an arm.”

He winces, his eye-light shrinking down to pin-points at your words.

“….as in, the...b-bone?”

You feel your expression contort as you realise that was probably a lot more than horrific for him, being a skeleton monster, to hear.

“Uh….Toriel fixed it though! I mean, after she scared away that demonic weed, but -”

Sans held up a hand to stop you, his expression twisting into something dark and serious at your words.

 

“….demonic weed?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....so, who's ready for a chat about Flowey next chapter? :p
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	39. Another Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we discuss a certain plant....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You blinked, loosing your train of thought upon taking in Sans’ expression – it was just so _dark_. It was such a stark difference from his normal anger; no, this was an expression that contained something almost…..

 

….. _murderous_.

 

You shudder involuntarily, taking a reflexive step back – Sans immediately winces, his expression falling back into familiarity as he attempted to give you an apologetic smile.

“I, ah, sorry bud – just, I think I know who you’re talkin’ about, and let’s just say that we _really_ don’t get on.”

“….I don’t think that he gets on with anyone, to be honest.”

You give him a shaky smile in return as you steadied your nerves; Sans puffed out a heavy breath, leaning back a little on his heels, his expression slightly awkward as he searched for the appropriate words to explain. While he was doing so, you choose to drink in your surroundings; it seemed a lifetime ago that you fell into the Underground, yet the simple beauty of the glowing yellow flowers still stunned you.

“Hey Sans? Why do you think these flowers give off light, anyway? I mean, it can’t be bioluminescence, right?”

He blinks at your words, clearly shaken out of his reverie, his eye-lights widening slightly as he re-focused on the world around him; regardless, he looks around at the flowers, his face taking on that curiosity that you’d grown fond of without even realising.

“No….can’t be. If anything….and this is a theory, keep in mind, don’t quote me on it….but I’d say that they’re somehow taking in the energy the barrier is producing? That or ambient particles that are always present where the Core is concerned, but I-”

“Wait a sec, hold up. So the barrier produces some kind of….energy?”

“Well….yeah. I mean, it’s crazy powerful magic, so it’d be weird for it not to have some kind of electromagnetic field, at the very least. Still, can’t harness it though.”

“Why not?”

“Just seems to bounce back any attempt to – that was one of the first ideas, y’know? Drain the barrier by absorbing stray magic. We didn’t know the damn thing was self-sustaining at the time, of course...”

The look you must have given him clearly amused him, but he just about managed to keep a straight face as he carried on with his explanation.

“Yup. Uh, don’t know how you’ll feel about this, but…..do you know how the barrier was created?”

“Nope.”

Sans frowned, puffing out a nervous breath.

“So, uh….the barrier was created by a group of mages. Really nasty magic – it cost them their souls. Seven human souls to create the barrier…..seven human souls to break it. And, uh, don’t know if you’re aware of this, but….human souls can persist eternally, should the owner of the soul choose to do so.”

You promptly flop down into the pile of flowers, Sans jolting a little in response to your sudden actions. You lie there in silence for a while, Sans staring at you worriedly before he speaks up.

“Uh….you ok there, bud?”

“Yeah, I’m….I guess I’m just kinda done for today, heh.”

You reach out and gently stroke the petals of the flower nearest to you, frowning under the weight of your thoughts; it was odd, all the time you’d spent wishing for information and answers, only to find that you’d literally flopped under the weight of the knowledge.

Sans chuckles gently under his breath, flopping down next to you; it was crazy how strong and….pleasantly spongy the flowers were, more than able to take both your weight and his.

“Really don’t blame you. It’s….a lot, huh?”

“….yeah. I mean, why did the mages do it, anyway? Were they ordered? Or were they the ones in charge?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure. S’not really something I ever asked – just been focused on breaking the thing.”

“Do you think Grillby or Toriel will know?”

“Yeah, I would think so. I mean, they were there, so I don’t see why not?”

You poke at your flower softly as you contemplate, humming gently under your breath, before you heard Sans shift slightly next to you; you look over to him questioningly, eye-brows slightly raised.

“What’s up?”

“Eh, just….could you tell me more about that…. _plant_ ….you met?”

You huff, cautiously watching his expression as you spoke.

“He’s called Flowey. Guessing that’s the same plant you’re so familiar with?”

Sans’ expression darkened once more at the mention of his name, but you could tell that he was controlling himself a little better than before – you appreciated the effort. You had no idea why that expression had scared you as much as it did; it was almost as if you could feel the raw power behind it, rolling off him in corrosive waves.

“Yup, that’d be the guy. Did he….say, or do anything weird to you?”

“Well, kind of? He’s not exactly nice. Why?….actually how do you even know about him? I wasn’t aware he’s ever exited the Ruins.”

Sans’ frown deepened a little at your words, as he turns his eye-lights up into the darkness above you; probably looking towards the hole you didn’t have a hope in hell of seeing.

“Nah, as far as I can tell, he can get into any part of the Underground that he wants. And, uh, I mostly know about him thanks to Papyrus.”

He looks back in your direction, his face grave.

“He talks to him sometimes….I mean, nothing bad, surprisingly – friendly advice from the sounds of it, mostly. But….I know that little weed’s up to no good.”

“How? I mean, sure, it’s pretty obvious if you talk to him for long enough, but-”

You cut yourself off upon seeing Sans’ expression.

“-ah. Something I can’t know yet?”

He wriggles uncomfortably next to you, his eye-lights apologetic. You huff slightly, knowing there wasn’t much you could do about it, other than to trust him.

“Ok then, fair enough. Well, uh, to be honest, he….”

Your words trailed off, as you realised what admitting Flowey’s actions to Sans might result in. After all, you remembered Toriel’s threats of hunting the demonic flower down and toasting him extra crispy – you could only imagine what Sans would do.

“...y/n?”

“I, uh…..ok, yeah, he actually did something really, _really_ fucked up, but….”

Sans had promptly turned on his side to face you at your words, and you dared not look at his present expression.

“Urm….look, I know he’s a little shit, but promise you won’t go on a crazy man/plant-hunt if I tell you this?”

He actually laughed at your words to your relief, even if, upon looking at him, you could still see a hint of malice in his eye-lights.

“Hmm, not sure if I can promise that one, bud.”

“Hunting him down wouldn’t be worth your time.”

“….when it comes to you, it’s always worth my time. Now, what did he do?”

You blink, feeling the heat of blush rising quickly to your cheeks; you cough slightly, re-focusing yourself.

“Um...but in all seriousness, don’t go after him. We have more important things to focus on, ok?”

Sans didn’t say anything, silently regarding you as he waited; you sighed heavily, mentally crossing your fingers – you really couldn’t handle a flower-hunt on top of everything else today.

“He…..tried to take my _soul_. But I think the brief glimpse of it freaked him out enough that he couldn’t do it, so….I guess that was-”

You’re cut off by an almost feral growl emanating from Sans’ chest – you look to him in alarm, before letting out a horrified gasp.

 

His eye-lights had completely disappeared, leaving his sockets lifeless, an endless abyss of darkness.

 

You all but leap on him, clutching his face between your hands desperately, fighting the tears that were threatening to appear; before you almost let out a shout of relief as his eye-lights returned almost instantly at your touch, his face lighting up at your proximity, his growls cutting of to an almost whimper at the suddenness of your actions.

“Y-Y/n?!”

“Are you ok?!”

He blinks in complete and utter confusion, obviously not comprehending your meaning, heavy blush still lighting up his face.

“Your _eyes_ , Sans! They just….”

You gulped, chastising yourself for coming this close to crying; Sans seemed to realise, his expression instantly mirroring your concern.

“Hey, hey….I’m ok. See? That….that can happen, sometimes, ok?”

You choke out a laugh, before realising you were still holding his face; you instantly back off, mortification dying your cheeks red as you sat up, while Sans followed, obviously still concerned for you, though expressing relief that you had at least managed some semblance of laugh.

“….what, so your eyes just do that occasionally?”

“….only when I’m particularly ticked off. I’m sorry I scared you.”

You laugh again with a little more enthusiasm, even if it was forced.

“I thought I broke you, or something.”

“No, I….I’m sorry, I just…. _ **he dared to**_...”

He growled once more, and you flinch in surprise; it really wasn’t a _human_ sound. Your comparison to a jungle cat seemed all the more appropriate, hearing him growl with genuine rage. He stops upon seeing you flinch, reaching out hesitantly to place a hand over yours.

“Sorry. Heh, I’m apologising a lot today, huh?”

You chuckle, shaking your head slightly at his words.

“Seems that you are. But, uh, don’t worry about it – I can understand why you’d be pissed. I mean, I think Toriel still wants to fry him alive, you know, after I told her.”

Sans lets out a bark of laughter at this, withdrawing his hand from yours, now that he was sure you were ok. Still, you could see that his other hand was clenched hard, the only thing betraying how angry he was.

“I….I don’t want you to hide your feelings, or whatever.”

He blinks in surprise at your words; you hadn’t even meant to speak them out loud.

“...yeah. I mean, I get that you’re angry, so don’t hide it or anything….I want you to be yourself in front of me, y’know? But, just warn me about things like your eyes going out beforehand next time?”

He puffs out some slight laughter at the way you’d phrased it, but you could see that your words made him happy; and it was true. You didn’t want him to hide himself – there was nothing worse than crushing down your feelings because you were too afraid to show them.

“Ok, welp, now that the poisonous weed is officially on my hit-list…..”

“...to be honest, I really don’t know what to make of him.”

“What’s there to be confused about?”

“Well, I mean….I don’t know, I….there’s something about him that’s not right.”

“You don’t say.”

“No! No, I mean….when I was pulled into a battle with him, I tried to look at his stats, Sans – and it was like they were _glitched_ , or something! I think that there’s more to this whole Flowey thing than we’re seeing, I’m telling you.”

Sans regards you, studying your face with that intense expression once again; you felt yourself flushing, but you also found yourself unable to look away. It was just so oddly….. _intimate_ , and you couldn’t figure out why. Eventually, he broke eye contact, and you huffed out a breath you hadn’t been aware you’d been holding in.

“’kay. You’re probably right. Still, won’t stop me from ripping off a petal or two when I get a hold of him.”

You roll your eyes slightly, stretching out your hands to caress the flowers surrounding you.

“Hey, y/n?”

You hum out an affirmative in reply, still stroking your fingers over the soft, almost glossy textures.

“I, uh….I have an idea, I guess.”

You look over to him at his words, your expression curious.

“You know I….I can’t tell you everything. But, I was thinking….”

He gulped a little, shifting, the flowers around him swaying slightly with his movement.

“I was thinking that maybe we could play our question game….but with, uh, more important questions. I do have some….rules, though.”

You face him fully, giving him your complete and rapt attention, silently complying.

“...ok. We’re allowed to pass _anytime_ on a question, and obviously that means that the person asking gets to ask another until their question is answered. And….we only play this once a week, one question each.”

You chuckle a little in the back of your throat, amused at the regulations he’d put into place – but at the same time, you couldn’t help but feel happy. You knew how Sans was with secrets, so this was a big thing; for him to put that kind of trust in you, it almost made your soul soar.

“Sounds more than fair to me. I mean, obviously if something comes up and you find you need to tell me _something important_ ….uh, does that count?”

“No, ‘course not. This is just to help that biting curiosity of yours.”

He gives you a slow wink, while you flush in response to being teased.

“...right. So, Saturday good?”

He cocks his head to the side slightly, eye-lights dilating with interest.

“Why so far away?”

“So that I can think of a good question. I mean, I have loads, but you probably won’t answer a lot of them….so I need to think of a good list of ‘maybes’ so that I have something to fall back on.”

He snorts, rolling his eye-lights.

“Plus, I cannot, and I do mean _cannot_ , handle any more drama today. No thanks. I swear to god, Toriel and Paps better have made something delicious for my much deserved down-time.”

He outright laughs at this, grinning at you in an almost cheeky manner.

“Nah. Whatever they’ve made, it’s mine. Calling dibs, right now.”

You narrow your eyes at him, pointing a finger so close to his face you were within a hair’s breath of his skeleton nose, all while he kept that smug smile of his in place.

“I will spike your ketchup, saying it right here, right now.”

“With what?”

You stop, frowning; before allowing a manic grin to overtake your face.

“ _Mustard_.”

“Eh, that’s not too bad.”

You grumble disappointedly, drawing up short.

“...I don’t freakin’ know – I’ll ask Grillby or Papyrus to help me, we’d figure it out.”

“Hey, no fair; you’ve already dragged my bro into one of your revenge plans, don’t drag him into another.”

“Grillby it is then.”

Sans smirks, leaning back slightly on his hands as he relaxed, completely unbothered by your threats.

“Yeah, he’d probably be your best bet…..but the question is, _would_ he help you?”

“Of course he would! You’re forgetting, I’m his number one employee.”

“You’re his only employee.”

“All the more reason, then.”

He chuckles, regarding you fondly, still smirking all the while; you feel yourself flushing inexplicably once again – you frown, wondering if your fever was returning, or if today’s events had literally fried you.

“...hey, when should we head back? I mean, they should be done by now, right?”

“Yup, they should be – you ready, bud?”

“….wait, you’re actually asking my opinion before teleporting this time?”

Sans smirks, opening his mouth as if about to reply, before quickly grabbing you around your waist and teleporting you to Toriel’s living room. You anticipated his actions however, and feel a sweet thrill of satisfaction at seeing his slightly deflated expression when he realised that you weren’t spooked in the least. Walking away from him with a soft laugh, you approach the kitchen.

“Paps? Tori? We’re back!”

Papyrus’ head pokes out of the doorway at the sound of your voice, and your being swells with happiness to see his trade-mark smile in place, no sign of his earlier nervousness.

“Sister! Brother! Welcome back! Did you enjoy your walk?”

“We did indeed – Paps, I’ve got to bring you out there at some point, the puzzles are great.”

Papyrus’ expression brightens further at this (if such a thing was possible), and you feel yourself smile wider in response; Papyrus’ happiness was just contagious like that – though from the slight look of concern on Sans’ face at your words, you had a feeling that his opinions on spike mazes were vastly different to yours.

“I look forward to it, sister! Sans!”

“Yeah, bro?”

“Did you take good care of y/n?”

Earlier you had wondered if you’d perhaps read Papyrus wrong when it seemed as if his words had an underlying threat; now, you could plainly see that his words had a double meaning, as he regarded his brother with an expression that more or less yelled out a challenge.

“Yup, sure did bro.”

Papyrus’ expression brightens once again into his usual genuine smile, as he disappears back into the kitchen; you turn a little wide-eyed to Sans, only to see him shrug.

“He was worried about you.”

You’re still stunned into silence – Sans lets out a soft chuckle at your open-mouthed surprise, calling out to the kitchen’s occupants.

“So, you guys almost done? What did ya make?”

Papyrus once again looks around the corner, narrowing his sockets at Sans.

“Brother, I must answer both of your questions with the same sentence: _patience is a virtue_.”

With that, he ducks back into the kitchen, ‘nyeh heh hehing’ as he went, Toriel’s laughter echoing from within the confides of the kitchen in response to his behaviour.

Sans merely shrugs again, pulling up a chair at the dining table and sitting down, leaving you to mimic his actions, your expression dumb-struck.

“….he wasn’t this sassy when we left him, I swear.”

“Nah, Paps can be shockingly sassy, when he wants to be – you’ve just never caught him in the right mood.”

“You mean _you_ bring out his inner sass.”

Sans gives a slow wink in response to your question; before you know it, you’re both laughing, and to your absolute horror, you laugh to the point you let out a loud snort. You instantly cover your mouth, eyes wide, which makes Sans laugh all the harder – you blush heavily, poking him hard in the side with an indignant huff; which unknowingly, grants you perfect revenge, as Sans’ laughter mixed with the expected post-poking squeak creates a noise not all that dissimilar to your snorting.

Just before all out poking-war could break out, Papyrus sweeps dramatically into the room, Toriel following close behind with a singular plate held high (well, most things she held were high due to your stature, but this was held high enough that all you could see was the bottom of the china plate).

“Sister! Brother! We have completed the finest of delicacies!”

“Oh my, Papyrus, I wouldn’t quite give it that title...”

“Nonsense, Lady Tori! All of your recipes are the most wonderful of cuisines!”

Toriel blushes lightly, chuckling – you can’t help but smile, seeing how well their friendship had progressed (you supposed that ‘Lady Tori’ was some improvement from before, too).

“Well, thank you very much, you’re far too kind. Are you quite ready, you two?”

You nod with a smile, while Sans mimics a drum-roll softly on the table top to build tension.

“We have created….”

Toriel carefully lowers the plate to reveal…

“Croquet rolls!”

You cock your head to side in confusion, completely nonplussed at the sight of what looked to be tiny balls of fried dough, coated in sugar. You confusion doubles upon seeing Papyrus suddenly handing out miniature croquet mallets. Taking yours, you simply look down at it with a mystified expression, until you feel a firm poke to your cheek; you look up to see Sans raising a singular brow-bone in your direction, silently questioning you.

“’sup, y/n?”

“I….literally have no idea what croquet rolls are.”

Papyrus, bless his sweetness, steps in.

“Ah! Well, you see, sister, it’s as so...”

He points out one of the sugared pastries, before gently tapping it off the plate and into his direction. What you didn’t expect, however, was the sound – a very _solid_ thump, not dissimilar to the sound of….an actual croquet ball. Which were, of course, normally crafted from wood.

At seeing your abrupt shock at the sound, Sans attempts to reassure you.

“Hey, don’t worry ‘bout it – look.”

He reaches out and snags one between his fingers, casually chucking it into his mouth, before letting out a clearly appreciative hum at the taste – which did not appease Papyrus’ wrath.

“ _Sans!_ That was highly inappropriate!”

Sans winks at him, licking sugar off his fingers, earning yet another grimace from Papyrus.

“Gotta say bro, you and Toriel really knocked it outta the _ball_ park, these are great.”

Papyrus huffs, still clearly displeased, but mollified thanks to the compliment (even if it did come in the form of a pun), if the light blush across his cheek-bones was anything to go by. Toriel chuckles at the antics of the brothers, a paw held delicately over her mouth to preserve some dignity, even though, if you listened closely enough, you could pick out the occasional snort of laughter.

“Oh my, you two, there’s no need to fight – go on, try one, my child. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!”

You grin in reply and nod, reaching out and gently tapping one of the pastries towards you; before freezing up in surprise when it not only sounds like you’re hitting a croquet ball….but it _feels_ as if you are too.

“….are you sure humans can eat these?”

Sans practically giggles in response to your question, and to your horror you notice that Papyrus and Toriel are also having some trouble with keeping straight faces.

Huffing, you shove down your reservations, picking up the croquet roll and popping it in your mouth. Mentally crossing your fingers, you bite down, praying that your teeth wouldn’t break; only to be pleasantly surprised when the crisp outer shell of the pastry breaks open, filling your mouth with the delicious taste of fresh strawberry jam and patisserie cream.

“Oh wow….”

Sans grins, elbowing your side.

“Y’see? Perfectly human safe. What, did you think they’d feed you something you couldn’t eat?”

You chuckle, patting your cheeks slightly to stave off the embarrassed blush that was threatening to caress your face, as you mock glared at him.

“Well, to be honest, humans usually can’t consume things that sound like solid wood. So excuse me for being a little wary!”

Papyrus lets out one of his rare quiet laughters, leaning forward a little towards you, his expression excited.

“Well you see, sister, it’s all due to a peculiar ingredient! It’s an alternative to liquid magic!”

You cock your head inquisitively, having never heard of this information before; Toriel smiles warmly at you.

“It is the crystallised form of the liquid, my child; it often has strange effects, depending on the ingredients it’s combined with. This is the reaction to strawberries. Amusing, is it not?”

You giggle in response, tapping another sweet treat in your direction.

“This is….more than kind of amazing, I’ve got to say. Heh…..thank you guys, these are really delicious!”

You pop your selected target into your mouth, sighing in a satisfied manner at the delicious explosion of taste, before smiling cheekily at the two chefs across from you, raising your mallet as if you were toasting them.

“Looks like this is the beginning of a wonderful cooking team.”

Your friends smile warmly, mirroring your actions, before Toriel selects another treat, winking at you as she consumed it.

 

“Looks as if it is, my child.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo....anyone have any suggestions for questions to ask Sans (keeping in mind he's a secretive bastard)? :p
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	40. An Unwanted Title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally tell Toriel about the state of our soul...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!  
> (wooooo we reached chapter 40 at last!......and they still haven't kissed, pfffft, spoilers)

“….will the same time next week work out well for you, Papyrus?”

“I would be honoured, Lady Tori! I promise I shall come better prepared next time – I shall teach you one of my favourite dishes, nyeh heh heh!”

 

_Which probably means spaghetti….not that there’s anything wrong with that._

 

Toriel chuckles from behind her paw, her eyes sparkling with warm fondness.

“I’ll be looking forward to it!”

Papyrus’ smile is almost blinding in terms of positivity as a response, and it seems everyone smiles just that little bit wider upon seeing it; Papyrus’ contagious happiness was once again showing it’s effects. Sans casually stretched, leaning back slightly on his heels with a satisfied air as he grinned at Toriel.

“Heh, thanks for today – uh, y/n, I’ll be back for in a sec, ‘kay? Just gonna get Paps back first.”

“Yeah, that’s fine, I don’t mind.”

“It was lovely seeing the both of you; I do hope that you have pleasant evenings, and that you both sleep well, when you choose to.”

“Heh, don’t worry ‘bout it – sleeping comes so easy to me, I could...”

“Brother, don’t you dare-”

“ _Do it with my eyes closed_.”

“SAN-”

Papyrus’ shriek is just about cut off by Sans teleporting the two of them away with a snigger, leaving you and Toriel to laugh at both the joke and the dynamic between the two of them.

“Oh my, they’re quite the pair, are they not?”

“Yup, sure are. Never a dull moment, not with them around.”

She smiles warmly at this, the corners of her eyes crinkling slightly.

“I am so glad that you’re as happy as you are, my child.”

You feel your smile fall slightly at this, as you realise you’d neglected to tell her about your soul cracking incident yet. And yes, while you were happy, happier than you’d ever been on the surface, hiding something like that from her was just….. _wrong._

“My child?”

You hold up a finger to signify you needed a minute, before you quickly shot Sans a text to wait on coming to get you for a bit, as you needed to speak in private with Toriel. As you put your phone back into your pocket you feel it buzz, but chose to ignore it for the moment, given the fact you were attempting to gather up the mental strength for the following conversation.

“Ok. Um, to answer you, I’m happy, _really_ happy, don’t worry about that. But mum….a while ago, I figured out….the number of human souls in the Underground.”

She takes a moment to take in what you were saying, before bringing up a paw to her mouth with a soft, dismayed intake of breath.

“Yeah. But….I didn’t react well at the time.”

Despite it having been quite some time since in incident, you felt tears start to blur your vision; whether this was due to you still feeling upset about your position as the last soul needed or from feeling afraid of Toriel’s reaction, you did not know.

“And as a result….my soul cracked a little. I’m better now, I think – I’ve not had a chance to look at how it’s doing, but I _feel_ better. I’m sorry for not telling you, I wanted to do it face to face...and I’m sorry that I can’t save-”

You’re cut of by Toriel gathering you up into a tight hug, your eyes widening in response to suddenness of it, her fur tickling across the surface of your face.

“….my child, hush. As long as you are my daughter, you will _never_ apologise for what you feel. Do I make myself clear?”

When you hiccup out an affirmative, she pulls back a just a little, pressing her forehead against yours.

“...my dear y/n, you mean more to me than you’ll ever know. Before we met, I was….in a hole, a hole I feared I would never emerge from. I failed to protect a single child….all because of my _fear_. Yes, I admit; I was too afraid to leave to Ruins. Too afraid to face everything. I am a fool, a _coward!_ I should have done something to save those innocents, but instead I-”

She cuts her own words off, gasping slightly with emotion.

“...Tori. _Mum_. Everyone feels fear; that’s just our nature, it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t. Now, I’m not saying that not following those children was the right choice….but I wasn’t there, I can’t offer insight on what would or wouldn’t have happened. We….we can’t change the past, no matter how much we want to. All we can do is keep moving forward, keep hoping, keep _trying._ But what I do know is that you’re everything I could have ever hoped for in a mother – everything I’ve ever dreamed about. Nobody is perfect, but….I love you. I love you for _you_ ….ok?”

Toriel let out a vague, choking laugh, before swallowing, clearly trying to collect herself.

“My child….oh dear, I was meant to be the one comforting _you_!”

You chuckle softly with her for a moment, faintly noting the sensation of tears silently trickling down your cheeks.

“My dear y/n….how is it that you always know what to say? My soul feels….more whole than it has in a long time, now that you’re here. My child, before you fell….I’ll be frank, I was close to breaking. Please, _please_ , never underestimate your value; you are my light, y/n. And I love you, too.”

With that, she draws you back into a hug, and for a long while, that’s how you stay, clutching each other akin to how one clutches at a life-line; and you supposed, in a way, that was what you were – without her, you would have been killed by Flowey, and without you, she too, would have been lost. So you clung to each other, sharing that pain, and sharing the love that could only exist between and mother and her child.

 

~

 

“My child, will Sans and Papyrus not be worried? We’ve taken quite a bit longer than they expected, I presume.”

You chuckle, patting her paw re-assuredly.

“I texted Sans...but, uh, now that you mention it, I’ve not checked my phone….”

You reach into your pocket with a frown, before your eyebrows shoot up in response to seeing the amount of messages.

 

Bonehead: _Ok,_ _just tell me when you’re done :)_

Bonehead: _You ok, bud? Been a while_

Bonehead: _Paps is wondering if spaghetti is ok for dinner?_

Bonehead: _Y/n, c’mon, getting a little worried here_

 

You let out a nervous giggle, hurriedly typing back a reply before Sans could give himself the monster equivalent of a heart-attack.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Don’t worry – I’m ok! :) Just had a long talk. Spaghetti sounds good, but doesn’t he cook it most evenings?_ _Why would spaghetti suddenly not be ok?_

 

Your giggle becomes a little more genuine at the almost instant reply.

 

Bonehead: _Heh, sorry. :p Oh, uh, probably better that you talk to him about that yourself? Kind of complicated. Want me to come get you?_

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _In about 5, if that’s ok?_

 

Bonehead: _Sure_

 

You huff out a gentle sigh, putting your phone back into your pocket so you could give Toriel your full attention.

“Sorry about that. Uh, Sans got worried.”

She chuckled, a subtle smirk on her face.

“Yes, I thought that he would. I almost forgot to ask; I imagine that the two of you have made up sufficiently, as you seemed as close as ever?”

“Yeah, we did – was a pretty good chat, actually. Got a lot of things out in the open.”

Toriel’s eyes widen slightly at this, and she leans forward in her chair with a curious expression, her brows raised.

“Oh my – what sort of things?”

You raise a brow in confusion, but answer anyway.

“Uh, well, Sans kind of has this thing for secrets….so he promised that he’d start hiding things less; that’s the short version, anyway.”

“….and that’s all?”

“Well, yeah. Oh! No wait, it’s not – we also spoke about Flowey.”

She slumps back into a more relaxed position in her chair, frowning just a little.

“Tori, you ok?”

“Oh yes, my child, don’t worry about me; I’m very happy that the two of you sorted things.”

You cock you head to the side slightly, trying to analyse her expression.

“Are you sure? You seem….a little off?”

She shakes her head gently, her ears flopping slightly in reaction as her smile becomes a little more genuine.

“I am fine my child, do not fret.”

You frown a slightly in response, before letting out a resigned sigh and leaning in to hug her goodbye; she returns your embrace tightly, softly kissing the top of your head.

“Good night, my child. I do hope that you sleep well, and that you have a pleasant evening.”

“I hope that you do, too – thank you so much for today, Paps looks like he had a blast.”

She giggles as you pull apart, her eyes bright at the mention of Papyrus.

“Oh my, he’s quite the character, is he not? So positive – but quite inquisitive and aware of his surroundings.”

“Yeah, my bro’s so cool.”

Both you and Toriel jump about a foot as you turn to see Sans standing casually behind you, smug Cheshire cat smile in place.

“Oh my goodness Sans, you scared the soul out of me!”

“...yeah, he has a gift for that.”

Sans winks at you slyly as you narrow your eyes, glaring at him as your heart falls back into a normal pace.

“You ready?”

“Yeah. Bye mum.”

She smiles fondly, softly patting the top of your head.

“Take care, my child. Until I see you next time.”

You grin as Sans embraces you, and before you knew it, you were back in the living room of what you now called ‘home’.

Sighing heavily, you flop down upon the couch, allowing your body to almost assume a Sans level of relaxed stretching; the day had been tough to say the least, so some serious relaxation was in order. In your peripheral vision you could see Sans approaching – you held up your hand to stop him, and hopefully his predicted poking.

“Nope. Stop right there, buddy. I need to have some serious chill time.”

He instantly pauses, before frowning in concern, flopping down next to you as he examined your face worriedly.

“You ok?”

“Yeah. Just a tough day, I guess.”

“….yeah. What did ya talk about with Tori?”

You chuckle, throwing him a sly look.

“Oh? So she’s ‘Tori’ now?”

He grumbled slightly, a light blush dancing across his cheekbones.

“I know her well enough for nick-names now, right? ‘sides, that’s what Paps is calling her.”

You giggle, elbowing his side slightly to show that you were joking – and you didn’t bother to add that she was ‘ _Lady_ Tori’, as far as Papyrus was concerned.

“Heh. Well, to answer your question…..I told her about my soul cracking.”

He whistled gently under his breath, his gaze sympathetic.

“I can see why you need some down time. How’d it go?”

“….better than I thought, actually. I mean, we both got emotional, but….it was cleansing, in a strange sense.”

He hummed softly, leaning his head back into the cushions of the couch as his eye-lights travelled up to the ceiling. Taking the silence as an opportunity, you take out your phone and quickly shoot Alphys a text about checking out your soul’s condition at some point; even if you did feel better, you’d be lying if the crack didn’t worry you a little, especially after the trails and tribulations of the day – plus there had been that feeling you’d had in your soul after finding out about Toriel’s royal status. If a crack was as dangerous as your friends had insinuated, it was better not to risk things.

You look over in Sans’ direction, before giggling in reaction to seeing that he had fallen asleep; you supposed that the day had been pretty tough on him, too. You felt a slight shiver run up and down your spine as you remember the look you’d witnessed cross his face at the mention of Flowey – you know that it hadn’t been aimed at you, but….you had to wonder what that evil weed had done to Sans to make him react so strongly.

Something that would make the gentle Sans that you knew become murderous with rage….it had to be something seriously _bad_.

You’re brought out of your well of thoughts and relaxation quite abruptly as Papyrus enters the room, loudly announcing the presence of dinner. Sans awakes with a soft snort of alarm, causing you to start giggling as you approached the dinner table; Papyrus merely shakes his head at his brother, muttering about laziness under his breath.

You seat yourself, excited for your spaghetti meal, despite having eaten it almost on a daily basis – Papyrus was that good a cook; you doubted that you’d ever grow bored of eating it. But when you look over to Papyrus to thank him for cooking it, you see him looking a little uncomfortable, shifting slightly as you consumed your meal.

“Paps? What’s up?”

You feel further confusion as you see Sans attempting to smother giggles at your question; you would have assumed he’d be worried too.

“I, ah….y/n.”

You look back at Papyrus upon hearing his serious, cautious tone, your brow furrowed in your confusion.

“….I am not sure what to call you at the present moment.”

“….what do you mean?”

Papyrus actually wrings his hands a little, but before you can reach across the table to reassure him or anything of that calibre, he speaks up.

“Y/n, you’re the adoptive daughter of Lady Tori, correct?”

“Uh….yeah, I am. Why?”

“Well, technically, that would make you….”

Your eyes widen at the implication, and you hurriedly shake your head; Sans is practically chortling at this point.

“No, no no _no_ , Papyrus! I uh, I don’t think -”

“Is it still ok for me to call you sister?”

You can almost feel your heart break at his words; you hadn’t realised how much a ‘nick-name’ would mean to you.

“Yes. More than ok. Honestly Papyrus, I might be Toriel’s daughter, but I’m…..I’m not _royalty_. I mean, you’ve lived with me for a while now – you know me. I’m just _me_ , Papyrus, nothing spe-”

You cut yourself off upon seeing both the brothers chuckling at your desperate refusals; you grumble, digging a fork angrily into your innocent spaghetti. After Papyrus settles himself, he gives you his usual bright smile, which almost instantly cheers you up.

“I am glad! I had worried a little, as I wasn’t sure what royalty would eat!”

Now it’s your time to giggle at this words.

“Paps, heh, in all honesty? Your spaghetti would be fit for any royalty.”

If a smile could blind people, Papyrus’ blushing smile at this point would most certainly have.

“Thank you sister! I’m sure that Lady Tori will be more than happy with the recipe next week then, nyeh heh heh!”

You smile softly, your eyes crinkling with fondness.

“I’m sure that she will be, Paps.”

 

~

 

“Hey, y/n?”

You roll slightly in Sans’ direction, pulling the covers a little more snugly around your figure as you hummed out an affirmative to show that you were listening; you were, once again, more than thankful for the wonderful existence that was your bed.

“I uh….I just wanted to make sure that you were ok.”

You chuckle, quirking your eyebrow at him with sleepy confusion.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why? What’s up?”

He lets out a soft sigh, his eye-lights slightly fuzzy; you’d noticed that they tended to do that when he was especially tired.

“Nothing, really, I just….heh. You’ve not long gotten over being sick, and the first day you’re out of bed all this crap happens? I just wanted to make sure that you were feeling ok, that was all.”

You chuckle softly once more; he was such a mother-hen.

“I’m fine, honestly. I feel much better – almost back to 100%, really. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“...I’ll always worry about you.”

You grinned at him, smiling wider in order to hide your blush.

“Heh, welp, I guess it’s your job to, huh? I mean, after what Toriel-”

“No. It’s not that.”

You blink as he breaches the gap between the two of you to gently touch the side of your face, his fingers straying softly through a few strands of hair as his eye-lights bored into you.

“I would care anyway. You mean a lot to me, y/n.”

You feel a heavy blush rush into your cheeks as you try to choke out some sort of response, but fail to; your throat had almost seized up in surprise. As if sensing this, Sans pulls his hand back, giving you a sly wink.

“How could I not care about my favourite pun buddy?”

You let out a slightly wheezy giggle at his words, inwardly wondering why the hell you’d found yourself blushing so much today.

“Heh. Welp, same goes for you – don’t think I’d know what to do if something happened to you. Uh, I mean, I-”

He sniggers slightly at your fumbled words, turning over and wriggling into the mess of cushions in order to get comfortable.

“G’night, y/n. Hope you sleep well – you deserve it.”

“...yeah, you too.”

You allow your eyes to flutter shut…

 

….but not before swearing that you’d noticed Sans blushing as much as you were before he’d flipped over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL OF THE BLUSHING. 
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> 


	41. All About Intent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we discover the power of intent...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

The morning, and most of the day for that matter, passed by pretty uneventfully; you had made yet more pancakes for breakfast (not that anyone was complaining), before Sans and yourself had spent your usual hours at his station, bouncing joke ideas off of each other and laughing at stupid, awful puns. Papyrus had come by on his usual daily check-up, enthusiastically patting the top of your head for continuing to keep his brother awake and ‘working’ (you had to fight back the urge to roll your eyes, considering the amount of ‘work’ Sans was actually doing) – before heading off for training, once again. And you would no doubt have spent the rest of the day reading on the couch with Sans; that is, if you hadn’t felt the subtle buzz of your phone as it rang from within it’s home in your jeans.

You blink at Sans with some confusion, placing your book down upon your lap (you’d managed to swipe one on astrophysics), before wriggling slightly to get the phone out of your pocket, all while Sans watched on with vague interest. Finally managing to get the device out from the apparent pit that was your pocket, you note Alphys’ caller ID, and pick up with a small, albeit curious smile upon your lips.

“Hi Alphys! What’s up?”

“O-oh, y/n! S-Sorry, is this a b-bad time?”

“Not at all; just having some quiet reading time, so you’re fine. Are you ok?”

“Yes, I-I’m fine, don’t worry. I was j-just calling about your message l-last night?”

You have to think back for a moment, before remembering about shooting her a text about checking out your soul.

“Oh! Oh yeah, I remember – heh, sorry. Did you want me to swing by the lab?”

“W-Well, actually, I was w-wondering if it’s ok i-if we check it out on S-Saturday? I-If that’s o-ok with you.”

“Yeah, sure, of course it is.”

“J-Just that I t-think we might be ready f-for some of the t-tests by then.”

“Oh? Well, that’s pretty good….I mean, you thought that you’d need at least another week or two, right?”

“W-Well, for the others I-I do….but I m-managed to get th-things ready for a-at least two of them….I-I think.”

“That’s really amazing – no wonder you’re the Royal Scientist, heh.”

You smile at her awkward, flattered giggles at the other end of the line.

“T-thanks. But i-in the meantime? Y-you can do a s-scan on your phone!”

You blink in surprise, and Alphys luckily takes your silence in the way that it was intended.

“Yeah! I-I figured i-it out when I-I reconfigured your phone l-last time. See, I used t-the internal c-camera on your old phone to-”

You hold the phone away from your ear with a wince when Mettaton’s voice suddenly comes blaring onto the line, such a contrast to Alphys’ gentle, quiet tones.

“Oh Alphys _dar_ _rr_ _ling!_ I was wondering if you could-”

“M-Mettaton, hang on, I’m ta-talking with y/n.”

You hear his gasping, dramatic intake of breath, and roll your eyes in response; Sans chuckles next to you at your reaction, having heard Mettaton’s voice booming through your phone.

“Y/n! Oh, Alphys, how is she?”

“S-She’s fine, Mettaton, but I need to-”

“Please, send her my love.”

You hear Alphys sigh heavily, before relaying his message as you giggle, and send your love back. With that, you hear him announce something about ‘getting ready’, followed by the familiar strutting click of his heels upon the flooring of the lab.

“S-Sorry about that.”

“Heh, don’t worry about it – I know what’s he’s like. Guessing he has a show?”

“Y-yeah, he’s filming in a-an hour….wa-wanted me to t-tighten a screw that’s come a l-little loose on h-his back.”

“...oh, fair enough. So, what were you saying?”

“O-oh right! Yes, j-just open up the a-application, and point i-it in the direction of y-your soul; it should give you a sm-small reading on your soul’s c-condition.”

“That’s…..really amazing. I can’t believe you’ve stuffed so much into a phone, of all things.”

She lets out a cute, snorting giggle at your words, and you have a sneaking suspicion that meant she’d stuffed a whole lot more into the phone than what you’d first assumed.

“W-Well, anyway, I be-better go, before he gets melodramatic….I’ll s-see you on Saturday?”

“Yeah, sounds good – I’ll be there around 1, then?”

“S-sure! Bye, y/n.”

“See ya, Alphys.”

Having hung up, you instantly tap on the screen to look into the apps on your phone, and sure enough, there was one pretty simply called ‘soul scan’ - she’d probably put it in there for monitoring your soul for tests, but it certainly had become useful in this case.

Sans gently pokes your cheek, and you turn to give him your attention; you’d long since given up attempting to get him to get your attentions through a more conventional method.

“’sup?”

“Oh, Alphys was just calling to say that she’s managed to get the lab ready for a couple of the tests we were going to try – and to tell me about this app on my phone.”

“Huh. She’s got them up pretty fast.”

“Yeah! It’ll be this Saturday; is that ok?”

“S’fine bud, don’t worry. Pity it’s on question day, though.”

You blink, not comprehending for a moment, before remembering the conversation the two of you had had whilst sitting amongst the golden flowers that had cushioned your fall into the Underground.

“Oh! Oh, so it is.”

“….did you forget?”

“….kinda. Looks like I’ll have to think up some good ones before then.”

Sans snorts, before leaning over to look down nosily at your phone screen.

“What’s this app, then?”

“It’s for checking out my soul, apparently – like a mini soul scanner.”

Sans whistles softly, leaning back into his seat with a raised brow-bone.

“Heh, well, that’s something. Alph always was good with machinery.”

You hum softly, tapping the app deftly to open it up – instructions popped up on screen, requesting for you to point your phone in your soul’s general direction until you hear a beep. You do so, feeling a little disappointed when nothing exciting happens; only the promised ‘beep’ as the scan finishes.

You deftly poke at the surface of the couch as you wait for the results to load, stopping when you hear Sans cough slightly by your side.

“Hey, it’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

“...yeah, probably. I mean, it’s hard to tell when I can’t see it, you know? I just wish that I could.”

“Well, you never know, you _might_ be able to. Like I said, just ask Alph about it when you see her next.”

You nod with hum, sitting up a little straighter in your seat as your results flashed up upon the screen.

 

**SCAN RESULT.**

 

**HP:2**

**AT:////**

**DF:////**

**STATE: STABLE**

 

You frown at the results, feeling a little confused – you poke Sans in the side (earning you a surprised huff), gesturing to the screen.

“What does it mean?”

His eye-lights scan over the words, before he also appeared to frown in confusion.

“Huh. Looks like it malfunctioned, or something – but at least we know the state of your soul is ok.”

“….yeah, but what does AT and DF stand for?”

“Attack and Defence.”

“….wow, so video games were right in that respect, then. So it’s how hard I can hit, and how hard I can take a hit?”

“You got it, bud.”

“So can you see them? My stats, I mean.”

He sighs gently, his eye-lights hovering over the area where your soul lay; you couldn’t help but feel a little exposed, almost as if you were naked, knowing that he could read everything with a glance – but you also trusted him, so in a bizarre way, it also didn’t matter all that much to you. It was a strange balance, one that sent an odd chill over the surface of your skin.

“So….what do they say?”

He huffs in a slightly annoyed tone, his eye-lights still focused hard on your stats – that is, before he suddenly looks away, his brow furrowed, still huffing.

“What’s up?”

“….I can’t read them.”

“….what?”

“Your AT and DF. I can’t read them.”

“...but you usually can?”

“Well, yeah. It’s one of the lesser things I check when I look at a soul – usually it’s almost an automatic thing that I see stuff like EXP and LV, but I have to focus a lil’ for the rest. But with your….I dunno, it just kind of….it’s like it’s out of focus, almost. You know, fuzzy.”

“What does it mean, do you think?”

“Well, with matters of the soul and magic, intent is everything. If you hit someone during a fight – you know, when you have your soul on the surface – if you were to hit someone with true intent to kill…..it would probably kill them in one hit.”

You shudder, drawing your shoulders up for some sort of comfort.

“...yeah. But you’d have to _really_ feel it. Not just, you know, hitting out with serious anger. But anyway – it could be that because you’ve never tried to fight back, your soul doesn’t feel the need to bring something akin to AT and DF to the surface…..I dunno, they might be clearer in an actual battle. Since we’re doing an attack physical at some point, we can try to check it out then.”

You nod, still frowning at the concept of intent, and how _easy_ it would be for someone to murder, even more so than when it came to a physical body. You could only imagine how horrific the war between humans and monsters must have been, considering the blood-lust some humans could posses….and you inwardly wondered how much it must have changed the monsters who lived through it.

“Hey.”

You blink out of your thoughts, seeing that Sans looked a little concerned.

“You ok?”

“Yeah, just….trying to get my head around that intent thing, heh.”

He sighed softly, drawing the exhale out as he stretched a little.

“Don’t let it bother you, y/n. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

You look at him in surprise, before sniggering softly.

“Heh, no, that wasn’t what I was worrying about, to be honest. But thanks – I appreciate it.”

He grins his Cheshire cat smile, before his socket lights up with his familiar magic, the book in your lap becoming shrouded in an almost smoky coating of it as it floated back over to the book pile. You raise your eye-brow slightly at his actions, whilst he grins with an almost smug air.

“I don’t know if that’s lazier than teleporting, or more impressive.”

“I’m doing something you consider impressive for lazy reasons.”

“What, so floating something away when you will it isn’t impressive to you?”

He chuckles, rolling his eye-lights slightly.

“Paps can do it too. Though in a way, he’s much better at it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he’s adapted it into interesting attacks. Sends blue projectiles at his opponents while controlling the gravity of their soul perfectly...”

At your blank stare, he sighs – his magic flares up slightly, and out of nowhere, a small bone appears in his hand; from what you could tell, it looked to be a phalanx. He snorts at your look of complete and utter shock, holding out the bone for you to examine.

“This is a ‘projectile’; all monsters can summon something like this to attack with.”

“Huh. All the monsters in the Ruins had these little pellet things – does that count?”

“Yup. Anyway, a blue projectile is like any other projectile, ‘cept you let it hit you, and you don’t move.”

“….why?”

“It does damage if you move. Just fazes through you if you don’t.”

“….why is magic so cool?”

He sniggers, his magic flaring up once again as he somehow makes the tiny bone disappear from existence.

“So, can you do it too? The blue projectile thing.”

“’course I can. Just that Papyrus does it in a way that can hit pretty damn hard – end a battle quickly, y’know. That said, he has really good control over his magic; never tries to actually hurt his opponent seriously, even though he could. In fact, he actually avoids it, if he can.”

“….he’s an awesome guy.”

He hums in agreement, before raising a brow-bone at you.

“So what was it about ‘intent’ that you were actually worried about?”

It takes you a second to understand what he was talking about, but when you did, you frowned, biting your lip absent-mindedly.

“I was just thinking about the war, I guess. It must have been….horrific.”

“...yeah, must have been….were you thinking ‘bout how humans were?”

“I guess so. I don’t know…..I’ve seen so much more bloodlust, or things akin to it, up on the surface. I mean, plenty of innocent people fall victim to it, and humans don’t even _know_ that souls exist. It’s just….scary, I guess. To think that intent would have that much power.”

The room is quiet for a spell, before you all but scream as Sans suddenly pokes at your sides, scrabbling his fingers up and down your waist; you let out a shrieking laugh as he does so, eventually managing to squirm away with an offended expression. He sputters into instant loud laughter at this, only laughing harder when you let out a semi-serious growl at his actions.

“What was that for?!”

“I was cheering you up.”

“By giving me yet another heart attack?”

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?”

Sans promptly receives a couch cushion to the face as an answer, his oncoming laughter muffled by the material.

“You’re a complete ass, Sans Serif.”

His laughter continues at your words as the cushion is pulled aside.

“Ooh, breaking out the full names now?”

“I’m taking a leaf out of Kat’s book.”

He promptly rolls his eye-lights, still sniggering at your words. Just as he opens his mouth for another retort, the door slams open, signally Papyrus’ usual enthusiasm for entering a house/room.

What’s a little unexpected is his expression, however – he strides into the house with an urgent energy, barely a hello thrown in your direction as he heads up to his room. You look to Sans with concerned confusion, only to meet his eye-lights as his face expressed the same. You heave in a breath, before reaching out and patting his hand to comfort him.

“I’ll go check on him, ok?”

He pauses for a moment, taking in your expression, then nodding; you had to wonder why he’d let you go in his place, but you get your answer a moment later.

“Ok, that’s fine. I’ve got to go check on something for a moment, anyway. I’ll be back in a bit, ‘kay?”

“Yeah, alright...see you in a bit. I’ll shoot you a text if….if something’s up.”

With a comforting smile at you (and another concerned glance up at Papyrus’ room) he blips away, leaving you alone in the living room. Letting out a soft sigh, you make your way up the stairs, frowning at the hurried clattering sounds that you can hear from within Papyrus’ room.

“Paps? You ok?”

When you don’t hear an answer to your question, your frown deepens – you could still, however, hear the hurried movements from within.

“...I’m coming in, ok?”

You hoped that you were allowed, considering the fact that the door more than proudly demanded that Papyrus was the only one permitted to enter. Twisting the door knob, the door opening up with ease, revealing that Papyrus was indeed rushing around like a headless chicken, throwing various things into a bag.

“...Papyrus?”

His motions stop momentarily as he looks up in surprise.

“...are you ok?”

He ‘nyeh heh heh’s at the question, shoving a few more things into the bag.

“Yes, quite! I’m sorry for worrying you, but I had to hurry – Undyne has asked me over for the evening, so I had to make sure that I was prepared for every situation!”

You chuckle softly, allowing yourself to relax now that you knew that Papyrus was ok. He motions with a gloved hand for you to come in, which you do, examining his room with interest, as you’d never entered it before.

It was completely different to Sans’ room and your own; he’d painted it in a deep purple, which oddly didn’t make the room smaller – if anything, it extended it. At the back of the room was a built-in wardrobe, and shockingly, a computer; you’d only ever seen one in Alphys’ lab, so instantly your mind questioned what Papyrus would use it for. He had a large bookshelf, filled to bursting with an eclectic collection of fiction novels, and a side table that contained a neatly organised army of figurines, some of which were clearly hand-made. Upon the floor he’d carefully laid out a rug, with appeared to be one of those flaming patterns that you’d often seen edgy teens vying for. But what stuck out most in the room was the absolutely enormous brilliant red race-car bed.

“...this is a seriously cool room.”

He ‘nyeh’s happily, still hurriedly shoving items into the bag – but you could see his cheek-bones flush orange at your words.

“Thank you, sister.”

“I didn’t even know that race-car beds got this big!”

He pauses momentarily to gaze at his neatly-made bed with obvious joy, before continuing his desperate packing.

“I have always dreamed of owning my own race-car. When I get to the surface, I’ll drive down a long high-way, wind flowing through my hair…..not that I have hair, but you get the point.”

“You could always get a wig.”

He gasps in explicit joy at hearing his, before coughing and zipping up the bag.

“A perfect idea, y/n. Now, I must get to Undyne’s – I trust that you and Sans can take care of yourselves?”

“Heh, of course.”

He lets out a happy ‘nyeh’, and you follow him out of his room and down the stairs.

“Well, sister! I shall see you tomorrow afternoon. Please ensure that Sans doesn’t slack off.”

“I will, don’t worry – have a lovely time!”

He grins, before all but sprinting out the front door; you hurriedly close it to prevent the resulting avalanche from invading the living room and soaking the carpet.

You’re about to head over to the couch to flop down and wait for Sans to return, before the man in question pops into existence less that a hair’s breath away from your face; you both make vague shrieking sounds as a result, leaping away from each other in shock – before laughing at the situation, and the look of utter surprise on the other’s face. When you manage to calm yourselves, Sans casts his eye-lights over you inquisitively.

“Paps was ok?”

“Yeah – he was just hurrying over to Undyne’s; got a sleepover, apparently.”

“Heh. Welp, guess you know what this means, don’t you?”

“...no?”

He grins wide, leaning a little closer for the sake of dramatic tension, while you automatically lean away, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

 

 

“It means we’re going to Grillby’s.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...wonder what Papyrus put in the bag. You think he actually had room for a sink? I like to think so. :p
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/


	42. Sans Gets Roasted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we go to Grillby's for a casual evening...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday...

“….well, sure? I mean, I don’t mind cooking something, but if you really….oh _wait_. Sans, I’m not sure that we should.”

“Huh? Why not?”

Your brow puckers with slight anxiety as you recall your most recent phone call with the fire elemental.

“Well, uh, he did want to see me before my next shift to make sure that I was ok, I think….but he kinda _demanded_ that you’d be with me. And he didn’t sound too happy when he said that, just so you know.”

Sans’ eye-lights narrow down just a touch as he whistles nervously under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck.

“….welp. Still, it’s probably a better idea to bite the bullet.”

“….you just really want a burger, don’t you?”

He chuckles, his cheekbones dusted with blue.

“Uh, well, kinda, but honestly? I kinda deserve him being pissed at me. I let you get hurt – no, it was my _fault_ that you got hurt.”

“Sans-”

He cuts you off, shaking his head with a slightly sad smile.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, y/n. It’s the truth, that’s all.”

“….but I’m ok now. And I already forgave you!”

You gently poke his side, frowning sternly at him.

“Now you’ve just got to forgive yourself – everything’s fine, Sans.’

He smiles at you gently, his brow puckering worriedly, clearly showing his turbulent frame of mind.

“ _There’s no reason to punish yourself over something that’s in the past._ ”

His eye-lights suddenly narrow down to pin-pricks at your words, his smile twisting into a strange, anxious expression, spreading like wildfire across his face. When he doesn’t immediately answer you, you know there’s something wrong; especially when you notice that he’s shaking slightly, his eye-lights boring holes in the carpet at his feet as if it held all the answers.

“...Sans?”

He doesn’t so much as flinch at your voice, clearly absorbed by some kind of all consuming thought, his exhales coming out in small, accelerated huffs. You frown worriedly; this was obviously something much more than simple distraction – and it dawned on you what it probably was when you noticed his frame beginning to shake.

It was almost as if he was having some sort of panic attack.

Not knowing what else to do, you wrap your arms around him, pulling him into the tightest hug you could manage, in the hopes that it would draw him out of whatever pit he’d fallen into, whispering soft reassurances to him. Luckily, it seems to work; he gasps and grabs onto you as if he were drowning and you were a life-raft, his phalanges digging into your sides, his hurried exhales ruffling your hair. You blush involuntarily, as the hug was suddenly a lot more intimate than you’d originally intended it to be; but if it was helping him, you could bear with it.

“S-Sans….are you ok?”

He only continues to gasp as an answer to your question; feeling his body quaking against yours, you hold him to you just that little bit tighter, trying your best to ground him. The two of you stand like that for what felt like hours – though you were more than sure that it was only a few minutes. Eventually, you feel the shakes start to ease up, his breathing start to normalise; so you try to speak to him once more.

“Sans?”

“...yeah….yeah, I’m ok. M’sorry.”

You puff out a relieved breath, shaking your head at his words – well, as much as you could, considering Sans had more or less buried your face within the confides of his chest.

“ _Don’t_. Don’t….don’t be sorry.”

He heaves in another heavy breath, before releasing you a little in order to look down at you, his eye-lights grazing over your features with that strange, intimate intensity he seemed to recently posses; you almost immediately felt your cheeks heating up – puffing out a hard breath in order to cover it, you drag your eyes away from his gaze to examine the carpet.

“….don’t be. I mean, I’ve….I _know_ what a panic attack is. So it’s not your fault – if anything, it’s mine. So I’m-”

Your words are stopped instantaneously when you feel him softly grasping your chin, turning your face to look back up at him; you gulp involuntarily, eyes widening – and mentally chastise yourself for your apparent loss of bodily control as you all but freeze in his arms, face a blushing mess. Sans however, doesn’t seem to mind; he’s smiling, albeit a little sadly, stroking your chin idly with the edge of his thumb as he examines your features. But all in all, he seems more like his old self; aside from the slight quake you can feel running through his arms.

“It’s not your fault, either. Heh, still – sorry, just…..sometimes old memories get to me, y’know? Almost like I’m back there, seeing….everything all over again.”

You can tell he’s desperately skirting around a certain subject, but you don’t bother to chase it – it was no doubt something he wasn’t ready to talk about under normal circumstances, so there was no chance in hell you were going to pursue it straight after a panic attack.

You did, however, know exactly what he was talking about in another sense.

“...yeah, I get it. I’m….I’m here for you, ok? I know I can’t help much, but….I’m here.”

He chuckles, suddenly tugging you close again; you let out a squeak at finding yourself buried in his t-shirt once more. He sniggers in reaction, his frame now shaking with laughter – which you obviously much preferred, even if it was at your expense.

“I know, bud. And believe me, you’re helping more than you know.”

With that, he suddenly lets go completely, giving you a Cheshire cat brand grin as he shoves his hands into his pockets.

“So, when did you wanna head out?”

You blink, attempting to process several things; his suspiciously quick recovery, and why the hell your blood vessels seemed to suddenly find it appropriate to flush your cheeks at the most inappropriate of times recently.

“Y/n?”

You shake your head, puffing slightly, before looking at him in concern.

“Are you sure you’re ok to go? I mean, Grillby’s already made it clear that you’ve got him a little _fired_ up...”

Sans lets out an attractive snort of laughter.

“...plus, you’ve just had a….a moment. I don’t mind just chilling here, if you need to? Honestly.”

Sans’ gaze grows fond at your words, before his smile twists back into his usual grin.

“I’m ok – but thanks. Heh, like I said; better to just get this whole thing with Grillby out in the open. _Fight fire with fire_ , and all that.”

You sputter out your own laughter, shaking your head with a gentle sigh as you walk over to the couch, plonking yourself down, before you started to tug on your boots. It was more than obvious to you that he was trying to cover up whatever it was that had distressed him so much via distraction; a method you knew only too well. And as such, you knew that it would only work for a limited time.

Eventually, everything would come crashing down.

Gulping slightly, you return your attentions to your boots and the issue with Grillby; if distraction was making him more comfortable for now….that was fine.

You knew that you’d be here for him, no matter what.

“In any case, it’ll hopefully put his mind at ease, seeing that I’m completely fine.”

You finally manage to shove your feet snugly into your boots, humming in satisfaction as you did so, standing up, and turning to Sans with an expectant smile.

“Ready?”

He smirks, then immediately points behind you, his expression slack-jawed with shock. You merely give him a dead-panned expression in response.

“….Sans, that’s literally the oldest trick in the book.”

After a minuscule pause, he shrugs, his grin completely unapologetic as he grabs your waist; and before you know it, you’re stood at the entrance to Grillby’s.

Attempting to avoid feeling the chill from the outside air, you hurriedly open up the doors of the establishment and head inside, Sans hot on your heels; there’s a chorus of greetings as you do so, monsters from all angles giving the two of you warm smiles. You happily return them, waving in the general direction of the Snowdin dogs as you make your way up to the bar to sit down. It was strange how in the short time that you’d been working at Grillby’s you’d managed to meet and befriend so many different monsters – but then, you already knew that was just how monsters seemed to work, in terms of general friendliness.

Huffing out a happy sigh at your thoughts, you clamber up to sit upon your usual bar stool, leaning your elbows upon the smooth, familiar wood of the bar top.

“Huh….didn’t realise how much I missed this place.”

Sans grins at your words, mimicking how you were slumped across the bar.

“Heh, now you know why it’s my number one favourite.”

“….nah, I’m pretty sure you like it more for the burgers than anything else.”

He snorts, rolling his eye-lights at your gentle sarcasm – before those same eye-lights constrict, and his face expressing a slightly worried smile as a familiar heat approaches the two of you. You however, grin, sitting up a little straighter as Grillby smiles down at you from behind the bar, flames letting off pleasant crackles.

“Y/n, glad to see that you’re feeling a little more like yourself.”

“Yeah, I’m much better – guessing I haven’t missed much while I’ve been away?”

Grillby chuckles, shaking his head, before turning to Sans, and silently placing a bottle of ketchup in front of him – Sans, who had shrunk in on himself a little as Grillby’s attention had been turned to him, blinks in surprise, his eye-light dilating to a far more normal size.

“Hello, Sans.”

“...hey there Grillbz.”

Grillby gives him the strangest of smiles, flames sparking, before turning back to you.

“And what would you like tonight?”

You frown, thinking for a moment, before shrugging slightly.

“I’ll probably have a burger, to be honest – I mean, that was the plan, right, Sans?”

Sans nods with an affirmative noise in the back of his throat, still carefully watching the fire elemental for any signs of anger; and when he doesn’t find any, he relaxes a little, lifting the ketchup bottle up for a swig.

“Though I might have a glass of….oh crap, I can’t even remember the name of my drink, heh...”

“I believe that it was called ‘Kalon’, dear one.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right! I’ll have a glass of Kalon, then maybe we cou-”

Your words are cut off short when a strange, wheezing, choking sound erupts from Sans, making you jump.

“….Sans? You ok?”

Your concern increases when Sans only makes yet another choking noise; and you notice with a jolt that tears are starting to stream from his sockets, his expression a picture of pained anguish, his cheeks flushed to the point his face was more or less completely blue. You grab at his shoulder, your concern rapidly elevating to panic as your head whips to Grillby.

“Sans! Sans, what’s wrong?! Grillby, _help_ , he’s-”

Your words die in your throat when you see Grillby’s face; he’s simply stood watching Sans struggle to breathe, his expression impassive. But upon seeing your panic, he lets out a heavy sigh, reaching under the bar, and bringing up….

 

….a bottle of milk.

 

“Drink it, Sans Serif.”

Sans does so, his desperation apparent as the milk is more or less chugged as you look on with mounting confusion.

“….uh. What?”

Grillby turns to you with an almost sinful smirk as Sans continues to gulp, only stopping for the occasional gasping breath.

“...I must admit that I’ve been a little immature, y/n.”

“...huh?”

“I imbued his usual ketchup order with fire magic; I believe the human equivalent is ‘hot sauce’ - though obviously this was _quite_ a bit higher on the heat scale.”

“... _oh_.”

Sans at last all but slams the empty milk bottle on the bar top with a relieved, heaving sigh, his cheeks still a little flushed, but it’s more than apparent that he’s feeling better. Grillby tuts lightly under his breath, before wordlessly gesturing for the two of you to follow him as he walks promptly through the ‘fire escape’. You follow without question, Sans slinking after you, his body language mirroring a dog with it’s tail between it’s legs.

Grillby stands in the centre of the kitchen, his foot tapping at the tiled flooring a little; but that’s all that betrays his annoyance, his frame and expression otherwise normal. Still, it’s all that Sans needs to amp up his anxiety – he usual smile becomes strained, his eye-lights narrowing. Concerned for his well-being, you gently grab at his sleeve; not that it offered much support, but Sans seemed to appreciate it, if the genuine smile he threw in your direction was anything to go by. With a slightly higher level of confidence, Sans faces Grillby, his slippered feet gently scuffing at the kitchen flooring.

“...heh, I’ve heard about ‘ _spicing up life_ ’ but that was just-”

Sans is cut off by your loud, surprised bark of laughter; Grillby rolls his eyes, but his mouth twitches with an obvious smile (be it from Sans’ pun or your sudden laughter, you weren’t too sure). Sighing, the fire elemental controls his expression as your laughter fades, his flames leaping a little higher as his gaze becomes suddenly stern; Sans gulps involuntarily at the sight, chuckling nervously.

“...well, I assume you know of my reasons _why?_ ”

“….yeah. Yeah, I do. Grillbz, I-”

Grillby holds up a flaming palm to stop Sans’ words, his gaze still stern.

“Now, I know that you’re remorseful – and knowing y/n, she’s more than likely to have already forgiven you. But Sans, you know _exactly_ why I’m angry about this.”

Sans hangs his head, his words dulled.

“Yeah….yeah, I know.”

“....Y/n, I’m terribly sorry, but may I speak to Sans alone for a moment?”

You shift a little in place, suddenly worried for Sans; you couldn’t explain the feeling, as you more than knew that Grillby would never do anything to harm him – aside from spiking his ketchup, it seemed. Sans’ expression grows warm at your obvious concern, his hand reaching out to pat your shoulder comfortingly.

“Don’t worry bud – we’ll be out in a moment.”

“Do not fret y/n – I promise I won’t _roast_ him too much.”

You laugh in surprise once again at Grillby letting out a pun; before you turn on your heel and head back out to the bar, even if it felt as if your legs wanted to stop you right then and there. Shaking yourself, you drag your unwilling feet back over to the bar stools you and Sans had previously occupied, forcibly seating yourself down with a huff, allowing your cheek to hit the cool wood of the bar, frowning worriedly all the while.

 

Something that Grillby wanted to talk to Sans alone about….you had to wonder what it was.

 

_It’s probably just that he wanted to talk to him alone,_ _and nothing else_ _; don’t be paranoid._

You let out another huffing breath, poking at the bottle of spiked ketchup with a singular finger nail, ignoring the stupid urge to take a sip yourself – that truly would be a moment of curiosity killing the cat.

In an effort to distract yourself, you dig out your phone; but stop yourself before texting Papyrus, as it occurred to you that it might put him in an awkward position if Undyne asked him anything about it – you imagined that Papyrus wasn’t a very good liar.

You also didn’t want to bother Alphys, as you already knew that she was helping out Mettaton with his show tonight; and that obviously put a conversation with the shining star himself out of the question.

You grumble slightly, curiously scrolling over the various apps; before your finger comes to hover back over the ‘soul scan’ app. Shrugging to yourself, you open it up – you were bored and anxious, and there was nothing else to do; plus it wasn’t going to hurt to check again, even if your stats wouldn’t show.

You point your phone towards your soul, waiting for the beep; eventually your phone complies, even if it takes a little longer than it did previously, which you frown at, before shrugging once more – you knew that technology could be grumpy at times.

Tapping your fingernails gently on the wood of the bar, you wait for the results to load, humming tunelessly under your breath to keep any worried thoughts about Sans and Grillby away-

-they were taking a while.

But surely it _would_ be a while, right?

It’s natural that a ‘serious talk’ would take a bit of time.

Nothing would happen-

S uddenly your results pop up on the screen, and you allow your gaze to trail dully over the  words and numbers ; before your eyes widen a little as you see that the information had changed.

 

**SCAN RESULT.**

 

**HP:2**

**AT:** **N/A** **∞**

**DF:////**

**STATE: STABLE**

 

You blink at the screen in complete and utter confusion, muttering a quick dumbfounded expletive under your breath – before reloading the app and pointing the scanner back at your soul, this time paying close attention to what you were doing; surely you’d just pushed something that you hadn’t intended to at the time. You anxious energy rises when the app once more takes a longer time to finish the actual scan, but the beep does eventually arrive – you watch the screen loading, biting your lip hard in order to distract yourself.

But when the results do eventually load, it’s the same as before.

“...that _can’t_ be right. I mean, that’s just...”

You promptly turn off your phone, shoving it forcefully back into your pocket, huffing out an irritated, worried breath.

“Hey, you ok over there, y/n? Yah seem a little….tense.”

You look up with a gentle jolt as you remembered that you weren’t actually alone; Steve and Mike were watching you with slightly concerned interest.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine – heh, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it – where’s Sans and Grillbz?”

“...I think they’re just having a chat in the kitchen. Said they’d be out in a bit. Anyway! How are you?”

You twist your already forced smile into a devious smirk; on some level that annoyed you, as this was the first time that you’d had to force a smile Underground.

“Have you asked out Bonnie yet?”

The bird monster flushes a little, a flustered chuckle  escaping his beak as Mike lets out a wet groaning noise, rolling his eyes.

“Urgh, _please_ , I only just got him to shut up about their date!”

You lean forward, your smirk becoming a little more genuine.

“Ooh, a date, you say?”

Steve covers his face as much as he could with a singular wing, flapping the other in a shushing motion.

“Oh c’mon Steve, give me the details, you know that you want to.”

He chuckles at your eagerness, whilst Mike lets out another grumble, sipping at his drink with an irritated air.

“I...I think that she might be the one for me, y/n.”

You squeak happily at the bird monster’s words, sitting up straighter in your excitement.

“Oh wow! Really? I’m so happy for you two!”

He laughs softly under his breath, rubbing the back of his head feathers in embarrassed happiness.

“Obviously it’s too early for us to tell yet, but….yeah, I really think so. Though, I mean, it’s not like the way it is for soulmates, but….heh...”

You cock your head to the side at his words, a faintly embarrassed expression crossing your face.

“Uh….forgive me for asking, but…what do you mean? I don’t….know all that much about the subject on soulmates.”

Steve smiles, leaning on the bar with a gentle, dreamy expression; Mike makes a slight gagging noise, looking away in clear annoyance.

“Well, you apparently feel a deep, unending connection in your soul – but it’s so much more than that, obviously. Deeper, like a….silent conversation at times. Still, it’s not always as smooth as that – heh, these two monsters I know spent _ages_ dancing around each other, too nervous to breach the subject. But obviously that doesn’t mean that me and Bonnie aren’t meant for each-other! We could totally still be soulmates, but, uh, it might be difficult to tell at the moment, with…. _things_.  If that makes sense.”

You snicker slightly, your smirk coming back ten-fold as you note his blush returning full-force.

“I’m not sure that I do?”

“Pffft, he fancies her too much to figure out if their souls are connected or not.”

Steve makes a spluttering noise of mortification while Mike all but chortles, holding up a hand for you to high-five him (which you do, and manage to hide your wince at the layer of slime left upon your palm).

“I mean, _uh_ , that is -”

You giggle, only further mortifying the bird monster, who puts his face into his feathers with a muffled groan. Mike pats his back, gurgling out laughter with you; which is why you don’t immediately notice  when Sans and Grillby start to make their way over – you  flinch when Sans sits back on his  bar- stool, winking at you, w hile Grillby plac es a burger and fries in front of you, accompanied by a glass of Kalon. 

“There you are, dear one. And here, Sans – I _swear_ that this will be a little more palatable than the last bottle.”

Grillby places a new bottle of ketchup and a burger in front of Sans with a wink, before heading off to deal with other orders; you look over to Sans, noting with more than a little relief that he seems completely fine (and unsinged to boot) – and from the earlier interaction with Grillby, it seemed that the two of them had settled their differences too.

Sans takes in a hefty bite of his burger, groaning happily at the taste; you chuckle, following suit, not noticing before the food was placed in front of you how hungry you actually were. Having finished your meal (which was as expected – delicious), you swivel back to Sans, sipping at your glass of Kalon with a worried frown. Sans notices immediately, his eye-lights examining your face with gentle concern.

“’sup, y/n?”

“I uh….well, it’s probably nothing, to be honest. But how did it all go between you and Grillby?”

Sans’ brow-bones rise a little in reaction to your obvious subject avoidance, but he answers anyway, knowing that you were worried about their conversation as well.

“It’s all fine – he told me off, I explained that I made sure you were ok, we made up, it’s all fine.”

“...are you sure? I mean, he seemed pretty _steamed_ in there-”

Sans near enough spits out his ketchup with a surprised laugh, while you bite your lip to smother your own, taking a casual sip of your drink.

“Pfft, yeah, I’m sure. Honestly….just needed to talk it over a bit. But what’s got you worried? Even if it’s _‘nothing’_.”

“I….I was bored, so I decided to do another one of those scan things?”

“….oh, the one you did to check out your soul condition?”

“Yeah, and….the results changed.”

He sits up straighter, his eye-lights narrowing down with dawning panic.

“Are you ok? What did it-”

“No, no, I don’t mean the condition – don’t worry, it’s still stable.”

He heaves out a sigh of relief, frowning at you with a slightly grumpy air.

“Buddy, _please_ don’t scare me like that.”

“...sorry. But, it’s still…..weird?”

“Whatcha mean?”

You dig out your phone from your pocket, tapping on the app and bringing up the scan history, before showing it to him.

“See?….do you think it’s just a glitch, or something?”

Sans’ eye-lights travel over the results, his sockets widening just as yours  had upon  reading  them. He looks back up at you, his expression  honestly  dumbfounded; you found yourself rambling nervously as he didn’t answer immediately .

“Heh, I mean, it must be a glitch, right Sans? I mean….

 

….it can’t possibly read ‘infinity’, right? That’s just….impossible.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm...gonna be cool to see your theories over this chapter. ;)
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/


	43. A Complicated History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn a little more about a certain fish...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

“….well, I mean, it technically says ‘non-applicable infinity’….but yeah. That doesn’t make any sense, either…”

You frown, taking another sip of Kalon with a shaking hand; upon seeing this, Sans firmly places his hand over one of your own, giving you a reassuring grin.

“Hey, look, don’t worry ‘bout it – I’m pretty sure it’s just a technical fault. I mean, it wouldn’t make sense otherwise, right?”

You find yourself nodding slowly, puffing out a breath.

“Yeah, I mean….heh, I can’t even lift a bag that’s too heavy, let alone have infinite punches.”

Sans chuckles, raising a brow-bone at your words.

“Bud, s’not like that, remember? It’s purely to do with the soul – it would mean how hard your hits are in a _battle…._ or, y’know, if you were a monster, it would be that and your general magic level.”

“….ok, that’s actually somehow even more terrifying.”

Sans snickers, his hand squeezing yours.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, seriously.”

“Welp, it’s not like I was ever going to hit anybody ever anyway. More incentive, I guess.”

Sans puffs out a laugh, letting go of your hand in order to chug some ketchup, releasing a satisfied sigh as he does so.

“...better when it’s not spicy, huh?”

He mock-growls at you, sticking out his tongue, his elbow nudging your side.

“Heh, you were scared for me.”

“Of course I was! You looked like you were dying!”

He pokes your cheek, his expression decidedly amused; you pout, grumbling softly under your breath before giving him a curious glance.

“How bad was it anyway? The spice level, I mean.”

Sans groans, wincing at the memory and barely suppressing a horrified shudder.

“Oh man, it was like my whole body was burning up – gotta say, Grillbz sure knows how to _serve up_ a punishment.”

You hummed slightly, sipping your drink with a frown; you couldn’t say that you exactly agreed with it, but it would no doubt become an amusing memory at some point.

“So you wouldn’t advise me trying some?”

Sans’ expression was more than answer enough, his words only elevating his protest.

“ _Hell no_.”

You giggle, sticking out your tongue, before finishing off your Kalon with a satisfied sigh; you still couldn’t work out how the sparks of magic running through the drink didn’t produce any kind of static – which you were kind of relieved about, as you imagined something electrocuting your tongue wouldn’t be the most pleasant of experiences.

“I wonder what Paps is doing at the moment….”

“Knowing Undyne, he’s either doing some kind of excessive exercise or excessive cooking.”

You snicker softly, thumbing the rim of your regretfully empty glass.

“What’s she like? Undyne, I mean.”

Sans leans a little more over the bar top, his eye-lights wandering as his expression becomes ponderous.

“...she’s, uh, certainly different. Excessive in most things, I guess. But I would say that she’s pretty cool – she’s always been great with Pap, and I gotta say that she’s the best at her job. Really looks out for a monster’s well-being, always fighting for the lil’ guy, y’know?”

“...she sounds great. I can understand why Paps really wants me to meet her at some point.”

Sans instantly draws in a careful breath at this, his expression wary.

“Yeah, uh, that’s the thing – she’s not against the whole human soul gathering shindig. All for it, actually.”

You bite the corner of your lip, poking at the divots in the bar top.

“I kinda gathered that – I mean, how else would Asgore allow someone to be Guard Captain?”

“...it’s not for the reasons you’re thinking. In fact, I’d say she’s got more than enough reason, in this case – heh, can’t say I agree with it, even then, but I can see her view point.”

You look at him with quiet expectancy; he heaves out a heavy exhale, taking another swig of ketchup.

“There was an incident with one of the other humans that fell down. I was just a kid at that time – hell, there wasn’t even a proper sentry system back then. And just so happened that this human wasn’t the good kind.”

“….they...killed monsters?”

“Yup.”

You tap worriedly at the bar top, frowning – the thought of a child outright _murdering_ was repulsive as a concept, which wasn’t improved by the fact that in this particular case it wasn’t the child’s fault, not even a little bit; no, that lay with whatever that ‘demon’ thing on the surface was.

“Anyways. This kid made it all the way over to Waterfall – by that time they’d managed to reach LV 9.”

“And that’s….bad?”

“Yeah, pretty bad. I mean, it’s thought that LV 20 is the max a being can go before they’re just not…. _them_ any more. They turn into something...”

“...truly monstrous?”

Sans nods with a slightly bitter chuckle.

“Exactly. They just lose themselves to complete bloodlust – the worst kind of insanity. But anyway, getting back to the point. Undyne heard of this kid rampaging through the Underground – and even though she was….well, actually she’s younger than me, so that woulda made her….around 7?….she went to go confront the human and stop them.”

“But….but she...”

“...was just a kid herself? Yeah. But Undyne’s always been like that – headstrong and stubborn, but her heart’s in the right place. She wanted to make sure that everyone was safe….even though she had no hope of knowing what she’d be up against.”

Sans sighs, shaking his head slightly.

“She got lucky. Damn lucky. I mean, in the sense that she isn’t dead – it was pretty close. She fought with everything she had and more.”

“….and she won?”

“….well, she beat the kid, if that’s what you mean – then yeah. Not without cost – she lost her eye, and almost her life, as well as….man, if my dad hadn’t been nearby...”

He grimaces at the thought.

“So she’s never gotten over her injury?”

Sans quirks a sad smile at you.

“She’d never let something like that get in her way, bud. No, if anything, she’s made it ‘cool’ - wears an eye-patch and everything.”

Your lips twitch up into a brief, slightly morose smile, as you knew that meant there was another reason for her being more than happy to carry out harvesting human souls.

“….the only reason she fought as hard as she did….well, her mother got wind of her daughter running off to face this human, and went to save her – Undyne’s mother was in the Royal Guard at the time, so she knew all about this kid’s LV. She….she made sure that Undyne wasn’t dusted on the spot by taking her place.”

Your eyes widen as your brain catches up with his words.

“….you meant that _kid_ ….killed Undyne’s mother in front of her?”

Sans nods grimly, taking another swig of ketchup. You bite your lip, your eyes welling with sadness for this woman that you’d never met; and probably had no hope in hell of meeting, despite Papyrus’ best wishes.

“….you’re right. She has more than enough right to want to hunt humans down. That’s just….”

You chuckle darkly, rubbing at your arms as a sudden chill runs down your spine.

“….I feel pretty disgusted at being human at the moment, I have to admit.”

Sans huffs out a surprisingly angry breath, before furiously attacking your cheeks – you squeak with shock, jolting so sharply that you almost fall off your barstool; thankfully, Sans grabs your arm just in time. Instead of granting you any respite, however, he gives you a little shake, his gaze deathly serious.

“Y/n, I don’t want you to _ever_ feel like that – you can’t take on the sins of other people, _you just can’t._ You’re your own person, bud. I couldn’t give a crap if you’re human, or monster – you’re still you. And some little shit from the past shouldn’t make you feel bad for that.”

You choke out a surprised, slightly incredulous laugh at his words, shaking your head, even as his fingers pressed hard into the flesh of your arm.

“...thanks. I’ll try my best, ok?”

He huffs, clearly not completely satisfied with that answer, but lets you go anyway in favour of swigging down some more ketchup, which you find yourself observing with sudden fascination. Sans watches your expression change with a raised brow-bone, the slightly frustrated stress on his face transforming into a smug smile.

“...whatever the question is, bud, the answer’ll probably be magic.”

You let out a sarcastic chuckle, shoving his side gently.

“Pfft. No, I don’t think this one will be. At least, I don’t think so…?”

“...heh, ok, I’ll bite.”

“In regards to, uh, ketchup….I mean, I know it might just a personal preference, but is it alcoholic, or something, to monsters?”

Sans snorts louder than you’d ever heard from him previously, covering his mouth slightly as he attempted to cover it. Your cheeks flush with embarrassment as you pout, reaching up to poke at his cheek before he batted your hand away at the last minute, grinning manically as he attempted to attack yours – it’s in the midst of this heated poking battle that both of your movements are frozen by a polite, familiar cough.

“If you’re going to rough-house in my establishment, I might have to ask you to leave.”

Grillby smirks at the two of you, picking up your empty glass and placing it under the bar for washing later. Sans chuckles, warily relinquishing his hold on one of your wrists (you also abandon your hold on him with a slight pout – you’d been so close to winning for once, too), shrugging with the most unapologetic expression one could hope to achieve.

“Heh, sorry ‘bout that Grillbz.”

“It was for good reason! He was being mean to me….even if my question was, I admit, pretty silly.”

Grillby chuckles, raising a flaming brow in question.

“She asked if ketchup was alcoholic.”

Grillby lets out a soft snort himself, before looking over at you apologetically.

“Oh my, I’m ever so sorry….but in answer to your question – no, no it is not.”

“So Sans just drinks it ‘cause he’s weird. Noted.”

Sans mocks an insulted expression, gasping slightly to add comic effect – before coughing with laughter as you elbow him hard in the side.

“Heh, I’ll take that as a compliment. Nah, I only started to drink it as a joke, as it freaked Paps out so much – ended up liking it more than I thought I would, so the habit stuck.”

You roll your eyes with a slight groan.

“Of course, I should have guessed – yet more Papyrus torture.”

Sans raises his ketchup bottle in salute, winking at you.

“You got it, bud.”

Grillby shakes his head in mock exasperation with you, tutting softly under his breath.

“Your poor brother. I’ll have to start serving him his salads for free as compensation.”

You giggle as Sans dramatically re-enacts his mock-outrage at such a thing, Grillby chuckling along with you.

“My dear, would you like a re-fill?”

“That’d be nice, actually – am I allowed to ask how you get it to spark like that?…..don’t say magic, Sans.”

Sans holds up his hands in defeat, his expression decidedly amused, whilst Grillby’s flames sparked happily; you supposed he didn’t really have many of his costumers asking why his drinks looked the way that they did.

“Well, it’s actually a strangely scientific thing – have you heard an experiment called, ‘Kelvin’s Thunderstorm’?”

You shake your head with rapt fascination, and in your peripheral vision you see Sans sitting up a little straighter as he listened.

“Well, it’s….hm. I may not be very proficient at explaining the mechanics, so please have patience. As I understand it, water is neutral when it comes to charge – any positive or negative….molecules?”

He looks to Sans for confirmation, and he nods briefly.

“Ah. The molecules in water cancel each other out, therefore making it neutral. Now, with this experiment, it involves using mesh to charge two different streams of water – one of them becomes positive, the other negative. Over time, the charge becomes so great, it creates a spark of electricity; I use something along the lines of this method, only with….ah, that would give away the recipe. But I basically use the same method, but with a magic that creates a constant spark; which is obviously harmless for consumption.”

Grillby’s flames crackle with obvious pride at getting the explanation out, and you smile in natural response. Sans grins in his usual lazy manner, taking in another drag of ketchup.

“Heh, nice, Grillbz.”

“I never knew that you liked science!”

Grillby smiles, reaching down to ruffle your hair slightly.

“I’m afraid that while I find it fascinating, I can’t say that I understand it very well. No, I know what I know thanks to Sans and Papyrus’ father – in fact, he showed me that particular experiment in an effort to allow me to overcome my fear of water; it worked quite well, I might add.”

You smiled gently at the sweetness of it – all in all, from what you’d heard thus far, Sans and Papyrus’ father sounded like a wonderful being; you just wished that you’d been able to meet him. But then, if Grillby had never felt his loss in his soul….but you didn’t know the circumstances. And it somehow just felt _wrong_ to demand answers; it wasn’t your wound to open up, and it was clearly still an enormous trauma for all parties involved.

Something that was more than clear on both of your friend’s faces; whilst they had obvious smiles at the gentle memory, the pain there was more than apparent – Grillby had the beginnings of molten tears starting to gather in the corners of his eyes, and one of Sans’ hands had formed a shaking fist. Gathering your grit, you attempt to distract them.

“Hey, uh, I know this is a bit of a change of subject, but….with the war, I just wondered….in terms of the mages, did they make all the decisions? Or were they ordered by someone to construct the barrier?”

Grillby coughs, hurriedly wiping at his eyes, and Sans seems to release some of his tension with a gentle exhale; they obviously appreciated the distraction.

“Ah, I assume that Sans has told you about how the barrier was created?”

“Yup. She all but passed-out when she heard.”

You openly scowl at him, drawing your elbow back threateningly (you didn’t really want to go for another whack this evening unless you had to – it was honestly starting to hurt) – he only gave a frustratingly smug smile in response, whilst Grillby chuckled.

“The mages were ordered by the king at the time; quite the tyrant. As I’ve told you before, a lot of humans were actually partnered with monsters – he viewed it as something disgusting. To be honest, if the whole controversy with the monster and human joining souls hadn’t occurred, I’m sure that he would have found something else to justify war. But yes. Whilst he gave the final order, the mages were the ones who persuaded him to use the barrier method.”

“...but why?”

“They viewed it as a mercy – the king wanted all of monster-kind slaughtered, so the barrier being erected seemed like a lesser evil. The trouble was, of course, that the barrier didn’t quite go as planned.”

At this point, both you and Sans are sat forward as far as possible on your bar-stools in interest, having never heard this information before. Grillby chuckles softly at the focused attention, his flames crackling fondly.

“I’m not sure if Sans has explained, but in terms of magic and of the soul, intent is _everything_. And it just so happened that the mages creating the barrier were not of one mind, as they should have been. The original plan for the barrier was for it to be a safe-guard for monsters – they would have a haven in the Underground until it was safe enough to emerge; in other words, the monsters breaking the barrier from the inside would be more than possible, whilst humans entering the Underground from the outside would not. Obviously, some of the mages preferred a different ideal; they wanted for the barrier to be _absolute_. Unbreakable. The result, as we know, is a barrier that does not allow exit, but entrance is possible – and is only broken through the use of human souls….or at least, that is the belief. I obviously do not wish it to be so – you have to ask yourself if such a thing would be true freedom.”

He ruffles your hair once more, his expression sad, but strangely determined.

“I for one, do not believe that it would be. And as long as I am here, I _swear_ that you will remain safe.”

You face twitches with a smile, your eyes suspiciously watery. Grillby leans a little closer, his flaming hand still lying atop your head.

“Forgive me, y/n. I know about what happened. With your soul….cracking.”

You glance suspiciously at Sans, who has a look of shame on his face. Reaching over, you poke his cheek, smiling at him to show that you weren’t angry.

“That’s fine. If anything, it’s a good thing that you know – heh, I don’t think I’d have the gall to just come out with it at work.”

He smiles, before puffing out a gentle breath, his flames flickering.

“My dear, as you already know, I will always be here to talk, should you need it – and I would like to inform you how important you are. Not only to me, not only to Sans, or Papyrus – but to everyone you’ve met here in Snowdin. I have noticed a change in my customers; many of them are happier in surprising ways. Doggo seems to feel a little more at ease – it seems your constant dancing has encouraged him. The other dog monsters, too, are happier – your attentions and petting make them feel loved. Johan is, as you know, ecstatic over his music outlet. And now, I see Bonnie and Steve starting what looks to be a wonderful relationship. This is all your doing, y/n. Your presence is helping others, _benefiting_ them. Without your being here, none of this would have happened. You are a wonderful person, y/n – and a wonderful friend.”

You don’t even realise that you’re crying until you hear the gentle hissing of your tears hitting Grillby’s hand as he places it gently across your cheek.

“Oh!-”

“It’s quite alright, my dear – a few tears won’t hurt me.”

You lower your head, your expression and voice wavering.

“….t-thank you. I….I promise that I’ll keep going.”

“Keep your hope, dear one.”

“….I will.”

Grillby sighs, ruffling your hair once more with a gentle smile, his flames popping. You suddenly find yourself gasping, thoroughly winded as a weight is pressed upon you – for a moment you look around in utter confusion, before realising that Sans had all but draped himself upon you, mimicking falling asleep; which wasn’t very convincing, considering the fact that he was trying not to laugh.

“….Sans Serif, you’re crushing me.”

A small huff of laughter manages to escape him, but apart from that, he remains relatively stoic. Despite yourself, you feel yourself starting to smile, which was probably his plan; regardless, you start to squirm in an effort to escape – something which he quickly prevents, by ‘slyly’ caging you in with his limp arms.

“Sans, _seriously –_ you’re heavy. You’re squishing me. I’m being squished!”

He sniggers once more, a little louder than before, but otherwise keeps with his act. Grillby rolls his eyes at this, before appearing to have some idea to aid you – he leans a little closer, and whispers something to Sans that you weren’t quite able to catch; but it appears to work, as he sits bolt upright, his expression wary, whilst Grillby looks suitably smug.

“Ah. Welcome back, Sans – it appeared that you fell asleep for a moment, but now that you’re awake, about that tab of yours-”

Sans chuckles awkwardly, the starts of a blush creeping across his cheek-bones.

“Ah….h-hey, y/n? When did you want to head back?”

You giggle at his admittedly pathetic attempt to run away, and Grillby chuckles with you; Sans meanwhile wears a sheepish smile, shifting awkwardly on his barstool. Grillby pats his shoulder to placate him, smug smile still in place.

“In any case – I believe that you wanted a re-fill, dear one?”

“That would be lovely, thank you.”

“And you, Sans?”

“That’d be great, Grillbz.”

Grillby nods, and with a gentle bow, he heads over to the kitchen. You feel the all-familiar poke to your cheek, and look over to Sans expectantly.

“….you ok?”

You hum out a soft affirmative, leaning on the bar as you turned your body in his direction, your knee brushing against his.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just….I don’t understand why you all care so much, sometimes. I don’t….”

You laugh slightly, a disbelieving smile in place; you start to squirm, starting to naturally edge away from him – before you’re suddenly halted by his hand upon your own, his fingers knotting with yours in a tight embrace.

“...you don’t think that you’re worth it?”

Sans is watching you with that strangely intent expression again; but his smile is gentle, and a little sad. You blush under his gaze and touch, nibbling at your lip.

“I….I don’t know.”

“….well, I do. You’re worth as much as the rest of us are – so you just have to ask yourself…..what are _we_ worth?”

Your eyes widen slightly with his words, your mind processing the notion.

“Everything….you’re all worth…. _everything_.”

He gives you a warm, sweet smile, gently nudging his knee against your own.

 

“Then there’s your answer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KNEE NUDGES. THE SLOW BURN BURNS ON.
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/


	44. The Soufflé Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we wake up in a strange place...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

_You blink vaguely into the inky black Void. Having spent so much time here, you’d begun to wonder – was there anybody else here? Or…. **anything** else. But no matter how much you strained your eyes, it seemed that nothing was revealing itself. Or at least, it wasn’t revealing itself yet; you were persistent and patient, so you’d keep looking. Even if it wasn’t going to amount to anything._

“ _My dear?”_

_You blink once more, turning to see Gaster looking at you with clear concern._

“ _Oh! Oh, I’m sorry – I was kinda lost in thought, heh.”_

_He smiles ruefully, his eye-lights sparking in the pitch dark._

“ _Ah. May I ask what you were pondering over?”_

“ _I….I was wondering if there was anything else here, in the Void? Or, uh, anyone else.”_

_Gaster hummed, his expression turning to one of gentle concern._

“ _Well….yes, there are, as a matter of fact. But my dear, they are quite….dangerous beings. Wild.”_

“ _Oh….uh, so….are they monsters? Humans? Something else?”_

_He chuckles, an amused smirk forming in reaction to your curiosity._

“ _I do not quite know how to define them….I suppose that they would count as being monsters, as they are sentient.”_

“ _But not friendly?”_

“ _Well, it depends on the being – I’ve personally known them to be quite affectionate, but I’ve also seen them attack and destroy certain….well. They cannot speak, so it is a little difficult to communicate; the easiest way is to use magic to send across your intentions.”_

“ _Oh….so would they dislike humans?”_

“ _As I previously mentioned, they are very sensitive to intent – so I imagine it would depend on how you felt towards them.”_

_You hum in thought – he could probably tell how much you wanted to meet one of these ‘Void creatures’, but seemed unwilling to allow you to do so for the time being. Not without reason, of course; if they were that temperamental, you could completely understand it._

“ _Huh….never would have imagined that something would exist here naturally. I mean, it’s just...”_

“ _...a Void? Indeed. Their existence is in fact what allowed me to continue my research into the Void itself – a curse and a blessing, really.”_

“ _Why a blessing, if you don’t mind me asking?”_

“ _Well, from a scientific point of view, discovering a whole new plane of existence is quite the thing – not only that, but if utilised in the right fashion, the Void creatures are quite the offensive weapon. At the time, the war was still quite recent, so when I made the discovery it was more than a little significant.”_

“… _.so they’re powerful.”_

_Gaster simply nods, his eye-lights solemn; you quickly change the subject._

“ _Ah, um, did you happen to see the reading that my phone scan gave me…? We couldn’t figure it out – but it’s probably a glitch, right?”_

_Gaster hums a little, a ponderous expression upon his face._

“ _Hm….well, it could very well be, I suppose. Still, it would be simply….fascinating if it wasn’t, no?”_

_You shudder slightly, vehemently shaking your head._

“ _I don’t think so, thank you. I wouldn’t want to think about what that might mean.”_

“ _Well, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, my dear. That kind of power could be used for a multitude of things; for instance, it might translate as healing, or something akin to it.”_

“… _.wait, I thought it was….attack?”_

“ _Do all attacks have to be offensive?”_

_You blink, a little caught off guard by the question._

“ _I….I suppose not.”_

_Gaster smiles, his expression slightly smug._

“ _Power is indeed a frightening thing, but it all depends on how you utilise it – remember that, my dear.”_

_You nod, biting your lip as your mind continued to run in circles._

“ _...but still, I’d rather it be a glitch, to be honest.”_

“ _Understandable. I just wish for you not to be afraid if it is not, that is all.”_

_You smile at him then, letting out a sigh._

“ _Still, I must admit, y/n….”_

_You raise a questioning brow, as his expression become bemused._

“… _.I’ve never laughed as much as I did when I saw your reaction to croquet rolls.”_

_You let out a horrified groan, covering your face as he all but cackles at the memory._

 

_~_

 

You wake feeling strangely….uncomfortable. Not horribly so, but your back was definitely sore and in desperate need of stretching. But when you go to do so, you find that, mysteriously, you can’t move. Frowning in a confusion that only a half asleep person can have, you allow your eyes to creep open, yawning as you did so – only to cut yourself off with a strangely strangled noise as you took in your surroundings.

You were in the living room, apparently on the couch.

You hum in the back of your throat, attempting to make a move; before finding that it actually was impossible. You go to turn, before you squeak in alarm as you realise the reason why you couldn’t move was because Sans had his arms around you, one of his legs over your own as he spooned you.

_How the hell did this happen?!_

You think back on the night before, desperately attempting to recount the events.

You’d gone to Grillby’s, and had dinner. You’d stayed until closing with Sans, laughing as Grillby teased him about suddenly becoming the ‘hot one’. You’d then come back home, and as the both of you hadn’t been tired yet, you’d opted to watch a movie (as Papyrus wasn’t around to tell you off).

And that was it.

You grumble, wriggling in an attempt to get your back into a slightly more comfortable position – it wasn’t that Sans was…..uncomfortable, it was more the way that you’d slept whilst squished onto the couch. You squirm again, grumbling louder in an effort to wake him up; then freeze as he groans in deep, husky tones in his sleep, tugging you closer.

Your mind immediately leaps into panic mode – you’d only just woken up, you didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with this crap.

“Sans! _Sans!_ Wake up!”

You only receive another low groan from him, his exhale ruffling your hair as you unsuccessfully hid your furious blushing.

“Sans, _seriously_! My back is cramping up!”

You elbow him – not too hard, but hopefully enough that he’d wake up. He only grunts in response, tugging you closer still; your body freezes up in response, your face burning. So, you resort to something you had avoided since waking up – you shriek.

“SANS! WAKE UP!”

You feel him jolt as if shot through with electricity against your back, inhaling sharply in shock. You then squeak as you find yourself unexpectedly pushed off the couch and onto the floor; you suck in a pained breath as you land heavily on your side, your hip taking the brunt of the damage.

Sans meanwhile sits bolt upright, his eye-lights pin-pricked with tension, his magic occasionally flaring up in his left socket. But when he sees you groaning in pain on the floor, he seems to calm down some – in the sense that his panic was now replaced by concern.

“Y/n, you ok?!”

“….well, I _was_ until you catapulted me off the couch – well, no, ok, I was really stiff, but still better than-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold up bud...”

He heaves in another breath to calm himself down, taking in his surroundings; you giggle through slightly pained hisses as his expression of confusion followed by dawning realisation seemed to mirror your own when you woke up. You got further confirmation of this when Sans started to blush.

“….we fell asleep on the couch together.”

“Yup.”

“….but the couch isn’t big enough.”

“Nope.”

He computes this for a few more moments, before groaning, pressing the palm of a hand to one of his sockets, clearly still just as sleepy as you seemed to be – well, through the pain from your hip and your amusement at the whole situation, despite the fact you’d been dying from your own mortification not so long ago.

“Hehe, at least it’s totally given me plenty of teasing material.”

Sans quirks a tired brow-bone in your direction.

“Oh?”

You snigger, going to sit up before immediately flopping back down on the carpet again, wincing. Sans promptly gets to his feet, and before you can as so much as ask what he was doing, he’d lifted you off the floor seemingly without effort; and suddenly you were on your thankfully much softer bed.

Sans had already laid you down on the plush surface before you’d had the opportunity to squeak in surprise, his face still expressing obvious concern.

“I’m so sorry. Where are you hurt?”

Fighting off your blush, you laugh awkwardly, trying to shift away in your embarrassment – which only resulted in another pained wince. Under Sans’ slightly stern gaze, you sighed, relenting.

“I, ah…..it’s my hip. And I mean, my back too, but mostly my hip. It’ll be fine in a bit, I’m sure, so don’t worry about it.”

Sans frowns, letting out a sigh of his own.

“Do you mind if I try to heal it? Like I said before, I’m not as good at it as Papyrus, but it might help a little.”

“Uh….sure? As long as it doesn’t tire you out, or anything.”

Sans grins, shaking his head with a gentle scoffing noise at your words.

“Pfft. Nah, I’ll be fine. Only asking ‘cause it would mean me touching your hip to heal it.”

You snigger at that, and his rising blush; his expression becomes confused, which only made you laugh all the harder.

“Heh, well, should be fine, considering.”

“...considering?”

Your expression becomes smug.

“Considering you were apparently spooning me last night.”

Sans’ expression is an absolute picture as his entire face turns blue with embarrassment; you chortle, or at least start to, before your movements quickly turn your laughter into a pained wince. Sans rolls his eye-lights, gently tutting, a slight blush still present on his cheeks.

“….sorry ‘bout that.”

Your eye-brows raise in surprise at hearing the muttered words from him.

“Don’t be? I mean, if anything, it’s kinda a good thing that you did – I would have fallen off the couch for sure otherwise. I mean, ok, I did end up falling off the couch in the end, but-”

You’re cut off by him snorting with laughter at your words, shaking his head in an effort to keep serious; you smile, happy that at least he wasn’t feeling guilty about it now. After all, it wasn’t as if the two of you hadn’t fallen asleep hugging before now.

“Besides, like I said – got a load of teasing material now.”

His sockets narrow a little at that, his smile drooping just a touch; he pokes your cheek in retaliation, and due to your injuries you find yourself unable to move away. You let out a frustrated grumble, and your expression is apparently all that was needed to get him to focus on the task at hand.

“Right, right, sorry – so, uh….”

He warily looks down at your hips, his hands hovering awkwardly.

“...where’s the pain?”

You giggle at his embarrassment at the situation, before indicating to your right hip.

“Just here, at the side. Kinda at the top part of my leg too, but not too much. But uh….don’t you just need to hold your hands over the soul area to heal…? I meant to ask when you fixed up my back, but I kinda….forgot.”

You both blush gently at the slightly embarrassing memory, but to Sans’ credit, he quickly shakes that off.

“Ah, well…..yeah, most would. But like I said before – I am, really, _really_ bad at healing. I just find it….I find it really difficult to transfer energy like that, I mean, straight into a soul and to the area that needs it most. Takes a lot of concentration for the best of monsters. Still, it’s better than nothing for the moment; Paps’ll heal you up properly later so it doesn’t bruise or anything.”

“Huh. Well, uh….thank you so much for bothering to do it, anyway.”

“Bud, I’m the reason that it needs doing in the first place, so it’s only right to.”

You make a gentle scoffing noise, waving a hand dismissively, but not bothering to say anything else; you already knew from experience with your sickness that if Sans felt any kind of obligation to do something, he stuck to it with the most fierce stubbornness you’d ever seen from anyone – human or monster.

So you waited, watching as he gathered up the gall to touch your hip; you wince when he finally does, and he murmurs out soft apologies, clearly more focused on concentrating his magic into his hands at that point.

After a few moments, the familiar soft green glow of healing magic sputters into life around his hands, and you let out a sigh of relief as it started to work into your aching muscles. Sans gently presses the tips of his fingers into the area, his expression concentrated to the point it almost looked as if he’d start sweating, his eye-lights varying in sizes as he focused on each new area his fingers moved to.

Eventually he seems satisfied; he backs off a little, lifting his hands from your hip and rolling his shoulders, huffing out a breath.

“Welp, I think that’s all I can manage. How is it?”

You stretch out your leg experimentally, before sitting up, and letting out a sigh of relief when you only felt the barest whispers of an ache.

“That’s great! Can barely feel it – thank you.”

“Bud, like I said, it was my-”

“I know, I know. But thanks all the same.”

He grumbles good naturedly, but doesn’t reject your thanks this time; you smirk victoriously.

“So! Now that I’m not crippled as a result of your spooning-”

Sans lets out a choking noise at this.

“-what are we doing today? I mean, yeesh, I don’t even know what the time is...”

Ignoring his still fairly stupefied expression (for the moment, teasing would come later), you reach into your pocket for your phone (there were some advantages to falling asleep in your clothes, after all). Turning it on, you let out a dramatic gasp, turning the screen so Sans could see.

“We’ve woken up two hours early! No wonder why I’m exhausted.”

“And I’m sure that sleeping on a cramped couch had nothing to do with it.”

“Only cramped thanks to your snuggling.”

Sans lets out another choking noise, much to your satisfaction; as a matter of fact, you start giggling despite yourself.

“Hehe. But in all seriousness, what do you want to do with the day? Go to work…?”

Sans thinks on that for a solid moment, before flopping back into the bed with a groan.

“...don’t wanna.”

“Paps’ll be mad at you. And maybe me. But mostly you.”

Sans snorts, his form shaking slightly as he laughed.

“Pfft, nah, I’ll pop over to my station when he makes his rounds. Solved.”

You look over at him worriedly, frowning.

“….are you sure that the healing didn’t drain you?”

He sits up, his eye-lights narrowed down as he shook his head.

“No, no! I’m ok, really. I’ve actually got a lot of, uh, energy. Just that I’m not really in the mood to go out today.”

You quirk your head slightly at his words.

“Not a good mood?”

“Eh, not so much that. Just more of a ‘want to stay in’ mood.”

“Ah, gotcha. So….what do you want to do today, then?”

“Well, first….gonna have myself a nice lie-in.”

At seeing your slightly jealous stare, he relents with a huff of laughter.

“Heh, ok, you’re welcome to join.”

“It’s my bed! If anything, you’re the one with an invitation, not me.”

“Fair enough. Ok, lie-in. Then….”

He shrugs, looking up at the ceiling.

“Uh….reading?”

“….so the same as usual. But without the ‘work’.”

“….yeah.”

You hum for a second, before letting out a gentle, albeit slightly mischievous, chuckle. Sans raises a brow-bone in question, his smile bemused.

“Sans.”

“Y/n.”

“I believe today would be the perfect moment to launch operation: soufflé.”

Sans now joins in with your mischievous giggles, smirking.

“Oh hell yes.”

 

~

 

The front door crashing open was more than enough of an indication of Papyrus’ arrival home, but as per usual, he deemed it necessary to also announce it with his booming voice.

“Sister! Brother! I have arrived home!”

“Hey there Paps! We’re in the kitchen.”

Papyrus enters the kitchen with a joyous smile, which you return, Sans grinning along with you as he casually leaned against the kitchen wall.

“’sup bro. Had a good evening with Undyne?”

“Indeed, brother! A wonderful evening of hi-jinks and fun!”

….which, knowing Papyrus, probably meant that they suplexed boulders, or something.

“Sounds like fun, Papyrus. So, uh, hope you don’t mind, but me and Sans cooked a little something...”

Papyrus’ sockets brighten with curiosity, and he bends to inspect what was in the oven, while you and Sans attempt to smother any giggling.

“Ah! How wonderful. Though I must ask – what type of cakes are they? They smell a little….different.”

Sans has to turn away at that point in order not to ruin the plan, leaving you to fend for yourself as he pretended to inspect the wall. Mentally vowing to get revenge later, you forcefully shove a cheerful smile upon your face in order to preserve your innocent facade.

“Oh, well, that’s because of how we made them. You see, it all starts with eggs…”

“Ah yes! The most traditional of cake ingredients.”

“….7 of them.”

Papyrus makes a spluttering noise at this, and you notice that Sans has balled his hands into fists in order to keep himself quiet.

“7?! That’s a little excessive, don’t you think?”

“….don’t you mean _eggcessive_?”

Sans loses it at that point, laughing out so loud even Papyrus jolts a little in surprise. Sans meanwhile gasps, tears running down his face as he giggled, looking at you hopelessly as you shook your head, a faux disappointed expression in place. Papyrus eventually makes a tutting noise at his brother, instead turning to you to question a little more about the ‘cake’.

“Still, _7?!_ Sister, those cakes are much too small for such a quantity, don’t you think?”

“Ah, but that’s the thing Paps – that’s more or less what they’re made of.”

Papyrus’ expression once more turns stupefied, (much to Sans’ amusement) but before he can question this fact, you continue.

“Well, that and butter…..cheese, sour cream, and a little mustard.”

If Papyrus had a traditional nose, it would be wrinkled in disgust; at this point even you couldn’t keep up the poker face, instead opting to join Sans in the giggling session.

“Y/n! Surely you jest?!”

“Pfft, heh, no P-Paps – I’m not joking, that’s what’s in the oven at the moment.”

“Sans, why have you been influencing y/n with your strange egg-pie ways?!”

Sans all but howls with laughter at this, grabbing your shoulder for support as he buckled at the waist; not that you were much help, as you weren’t too far off from falling to the floor laughing yourself. Papyrus huffs, a slight blush creeping upon his cheekbones; you manage to swallow down the majority of your laughter, wiping away joyous tears.

“They’re called soufflé. Not too far off from cake, I guess, but more like….a fluffy savoury one? Made of eggs?”

Papyrus once more pulls a slightly dismayed expression at your words.

“How could a cake ever be savoury?”

“Well, when they’re ready you’ll be able to see what I mean – I’ve never made them before though, so I don’t know if they’ll turn out ok; even the most experienced of cooks can get them wrong, apparently.”

This caught Papyrus’ interest – which made sense, considering his love of cooking.

“Well, sister….if they are as tasty as they’re supposed to be, would you mind….giving me the recipe? If it’s something difficult, I wish to master it!”

You smile, feeling oddly touched at the gesture of Papyrus wanting the recipe before even trying the result.

“Of course, I’d be happy to!”

“Don’t worry bro – I’m sure that they’ll turn out _eggcellant_.”

Papyrus merely scowls in his brother’s direction before stalking out of the kitchen, leaving the two of you to howl with idiotic laughter as a new pun battle began.

“That pun was so _half-baked_!”

“Oh, are you trying to get _oven_?”

“Of course I am! You have no _skillet_ a poker face, it seems.”

“ _Crumb_ again? I really hope that that insult was _ingest_.”

“Pfft, nope, your poker face reputation is _toast_ – so shut your _cake_ hole.”

“Well, I-”

Sans’ counter is rudely cut off by Papyrus’ anguished shriek; the two of you instead dissolve into giggling, satisfied that operation: soufflé had gone off without a hitch.

 

 

It also helped that the soufflé had turned out wonderfully delicious, much to Papyrus’ utter shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EGG PIES.
> 
> In other news - guys, holy shit!! Almost 10,000?! D:   
> WELL. UH. UM. Next week we'll probably be about there, so I'm thinking of putting up two chapters instead of one? Can't really think of anything else to celebrate it....what do you guy think? :3
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/


	45. A Most Skilled Guardsman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we go through the attack physical exam...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!  
> Oh my god, you guys are crazy - but we've gone over 10000! So...whut. o.o   
> Tomorrow I'll be posting another chapter in celebration, then we'll go back to the usual schedule next week :3  
> But just....thank you so much. Thank you so much for sticking with this chaos, and reading, and writing comments - it all means so much. Aaaand I'm crying now, so I'll stop being a miserable sponge and let you enjoy the chapter, eheh :p

You wake up on Saturday morning feeling a harsh chill creeping across the surface of your skin, leaving goosebumps in it’s wake; you grumble, attempting to bury yourself a little deeper into the covers around you, but to no avail – no matter what you did, you just couldn’t seem to get warm. Increasing your grumbling, you open your eyes, feeling vague surprise that you were alone in the room – before that surprise is quickly covered by annoyance as you notice that the window was wide open.

“What the...”

Groaning, you start to sit up, before wincing at the shockingly bitter temperature in the room. Clutching the blankets to your suddenly freezing body with sleepy panic, your eyes scan around desperately for something to save you from the biting chill, before you notice that Sans’ familiar hoodie was laying abandoned at the foot of the bed.

It was odd, to say the least – Sans was hardly ever without his signature hoodie. In fact, the only time you’d ever seen him out of it was when he slept, or in the mornings at breakfast when he couldn’t be bothered to get dressed yet.

But at the moment, the cold was a far more pressing subject; and the hoodie was simply too tempting to resist.

You quickly swipe it up, burrowing yourself into the mass of material as fast as possible, sighing happily as it swamped your figure. You could more than understand why Sans decided to live in it – it was honestly the comfiest piece of clothing you’d ever worn. You couldn’t quite place what it was made of; it was so old and soft, but if you had to guess it was probably a thick kind of cotton. Not that it really mattered what it was made of – it was soft and snug against your skin, heavy upon your shoulders; almost as if the very fabric of it was attempting to embrace you.

Suddenly being controlled by your overwhelming curiosity, you take up some of the heavy material in your hands and bring it to your face, breathing in cautiously. It was odd to think that, even though you shared a bed with the skeleton monster, and spent so much time around him, you’d never thought to take note of his scent.

It was….really _nice_ , to say the least.

Sure, the jacket had the faint residual scent of ketchup, which was to be expected, but it wasn’t quite powerful enough to mask what his real scent was. It was almost crisp; it reminded you of the calming scent of fresh snow, and the sweet scent that birds often possessed – almost chalky. But it was also much richer, much deeper than that; scents of old books and freshly picked pine needles, and something almost spiced at the epicentre; you couldn’t quite place it – it was almost like toasted cinnamon, but less sweet….far more….. _musky_.

You guilty take in another greedy breath, humming in a pleased tone despite yourself. For all the complaints Papyrus had for this particular item of clothing being ‘filthy’, it sure smelt a hell of a lot better than you’d ever assumed.

You allow the material to slip through your fingers and fall away from your face somewhat regretfully, before turning to glare at the open window. You take a moment to gather some bravery, before throwing back the blankets and quickly scampering over to the window, slamming it shut with a vengeance. You start to heave out a sigh of relief before realising that shutting the window hadn’t made a blind bit of difference to the temperature around you. You clutch the hoodie around yourself a little more, whining in annoyance at the back of your throat as you shuddered.

But before you could make your way over to the door to investigate why the hell the house was so cold, the door opens of it’s own accord, Sans walking in with a slightly harried expression.

He stops dead in his tracks upon seeing you, though.

For a moment you assume it’s due to the extremely grumpy expression upon your face, before you realise that he’s simply staring at you – and his hoodie.

“….I can explain.”

He snorts at this and your suddenly guilty expression, leaning against the door frame with a strangely contented smirk.

“Oh _really_?”

You suddenly realise that you do in fact have a very good reason for commandeering his hoodie, and your annoyance comes back full-force.

“Yes! It was so freakin’ cold in here, I was going to freeze to death without it – and to be honest, it’s still cold, even with it.”

“...ah. Yeah, I really hoped that you wouldn’t wake up. Paps went on one of his cleaning frenzies – tends to open up every window in the house and scrub everything down.”

“….why didn’t I wake up when he came in here, then?”

“That’s ‘cause he didn’t. Said that he ‘trusted you to keep everything in the highest of orders’ - but demanded that I open the window in here, anyway.”

You make a vague scoffing noise at this, gesturing around your room – while it was relatively clean, it was pretty far from being tidy. Not that it was anything compared to Sans’ room, but it was definitely a little cluttered – you had a habit of leaving out anything that you deemed to be useful, so that it was always within easy grabbing length. Sans merely sniggered at your reaction, rolling his eye-lights with the same strangely satisfied smirk upon his face as he looked at you.

“So, uh, what set him off? I’m guessing that this kind of thing doesn’t just….happen?”

“….he may or may not have seen my room.”

You make a noise of understanding at this, and he chuckles.

“Actually, gotta say that I’m pretty proud of why.”

You look at him with clear confusion; he says nothing, merely gesturing for you to follow him – and you do so, curious despite yourself. He walks to his door, opening it up and dramatically extending a hand towards the interior. You roll your eyes, leaning around the door frame to look at the contents within. At first glance, nothing seems all that different from the other times that you’d seen his room; until you notice the glaring difference in the corner next to the door.

“….is that…..a tiny _tornado_?”

“Yup.”

“….a tornado….of trash.”

His grin is stretched to almost manic levels of proud as he watches it twist in the corner of his room, collecting more trash as it twirled.

“Yup.”

“….how the hell did you create a self-sustaining trash tornado? Or a better question – _why_?”

He sniggers, his eye-lights dilated in his clear joy at the situation.

“Secret. And for comedic purposes, obviously.”

“Obviously. Came back to bite you in the non-existent butt though, didn’t it?”

He winces a little, his smile dropping a touch at being reminded of the manic cleaning session.

“I’m still trying to decide if it was worth it.”

“So I’m guessing you need to get rid of it now?”

“No way. I’ll just take the trash out of it; then it’ll just be a self-sustaining tornado.”

“...in your room.”

“In my room.”

You take another good, long look at the thing, before sighing tiredly.

“Fair enough. But you’re not getting your hoodie back until it’s warmer in here.”

Sans makes a whining noise at this – though you could tell that his heart wasn’t completely in it, given the smug grin stretching his features. Pointedly ignoring him, you lean over the banister of the mezzanine, seeing that Papyrus was actually in the process of taking the couch apart in order to get rid of every scrap of dirt.

He really did invest himself 100% into everything he did.

“G’morning Paps!”

He looks up at your voice, smiling brightly.

“Good morning, sister! I apologise for the temperature – it is to ensure that the house is properly aired!”

“It’s ok. I’ve borrowed Sans’ hoodie to keep me warm, it’s all good.”

Papyrus’ sockets seem to narrow at the sight of said item of clothing, before he looks over to Sans with clear frustration.

“So _that’s_ where you hid it! Sans, I demand that you give that thing a wash!”

“Can’t bro, y/n’s wearing it.”

You frown at him, but unconsciously snuggling into the material all the more – you weren’t willing to give it up just yet, even if it was destined for the wash.

“So that’s why you just left it in the room! You were hiding it! Sneaky.”

He shrugs, his expression completely unapologetic and teasing.

“Sans! Brother, you simply must wash it – it _reeks_!”

“Bro, I-”

“Actually, it, uh, doesn’t really smell bad at all, shockingly. Though I do agree that you should wash it at some point; get the ketchup stains out of it, heh.”

There’s a beat of silence, before Papyrus lets out a loud cough, appearing to suddenly be very absorbed by the couch dismantling once more. You frown in mute confusion, turning to Sans in question – only to see him blushing profusely, a hand covering his mouth. You feel heat rising to your cheeks in automatic embarrassment, even if you were still completely nonplussed over the whole situation.

“...what? What did I say this time?”

His dilated eye-lights snap to you at your words, an awkward, slightly airy chuckle escaping him.

“Heh, uh, nothing bud, don’t worry about it. Did you, uh….want breakfast?”

You frown a little harder, really not getting the awkwardness you’d apparently caused; before you decide to disregard it. It was too early in the morning for such situations – not the ideal start to a day. So instead you cast a teasing glance over to Sans, raising an eyebrow as you openly smirked.

“Why….you offering?”

He snorts, rolling his eye-lights, clearly appreciating your willingness to avoid embarrassment.

“Eh, sure, why not. Hey Paps! Whatcha want for breakfast?”

Papyrus mutters something non-committal, waving a gloved hand, clearly focused on his job.

“Welp, looks like it’s quiche for breakfast, then.”

Papyrus’ head snaps up at that, his gaze withering.

“...brother, so help me, I will hide every ounce of ketchup in this household.”

Sans laughs nervously, his smile twitching.

“….or, you know, pancakes are just as good.”

 

~

 

After the cleaning was complete, and the breakfast pancakes were happily devoured, it was time to discuss the day ahead; after all, today was the day that Alphys had scheduled some more tests, so Papyrus was told in advance so he’d know why the two of you would be absent from your post.

“That’s quite alright, sister; I do hope that you get a few more answers today!”

As always, Papyrus was completely and utterly respectful of your privacy; even though he’d been present during the soul cracking incident, he hadn’t once tried to find out information as to why you would need tests done on your soul.

“Thanks Paps – so do I. It’s just….hard to figure out what’s going on.”

He nods, patting your head comfortingly.

“Do no fret – with my brother and the good Dr. Alphys to help, I am sure you will have your answers in no time! And should you ever need someone to talk to, I will be here and ready, nyeh heh heh!”

You smile warmly at the tall skeleton, nodding in answer; if it was one thing that Papyrus did well, it was encouragement.

“What are you doing today then, Paps?”

His usual blinding smile turns slightly sneaky, his expression becoming mischievous.

“I am on a secret mission today!”

“...oh right? But you can’t tell me, because it’s a….secret?”

“Indeed sister! Well, I must be off – again, good luck!”

He promptly exits the room without another word with shocking speed, waving as he goes; you blink in slight surprise at his positively hasty exit, turning to Sans in question, only to have him shrug.

“Beats me. Anyways, when did you wanna to head out?”

“Anytime, to be honest. I mean, I’m almost ready, just need to put on my shoes – are you?”

“Now that I finally have my hoodie back, I am.”

You chuckle, fumbling your hands a little as you started to slide your feet into your much-loved sneakers.

“You’re lucky I gave it back – I mean, geez, that thing is so comfy it’s unreal. Honestly, if you didn’t already live in it, I would.”

He smirks at this, clearly proud of his much-loved garment; chuckling softly under your breath, you finally wriggle your feet into your sneakers, tapping your toes against the floor slightly in order to get them properly situated.

“I know, right? At least I have someone on my side when Paps keeps threatening to wash it in the sink if I don’t clean it.”

“Pfft. Seriously, you should clean it at some point – got a pretty serious ketchup stain on your left elbow.”

“It adds _character_.”

“...it’s _gross_.”

You start to laugh at his positively insulted expression, before you let out a loud shriek of surprise as Sans grabs you around the waist and teleports; you arrive in Alphys’ lab in a blink. You shove his side with an indignant noise, ignoring the fact that he was laughing too much to dodge your shove.

“Pfft, oh man, y/n, you shoulda seen your face...”

“I swear, I’m going to get such perfect revenge one of these days, you’ll rue the day you started this…. _thing_.”

“What thing?”

“The thing of scaring me whenever you can!”

“What, you want me to go back to poking?”

“You do that anyway!”

His chortles are cut off by a polite, slightly stuttered cough; Alphys is standing by the couch, a gentle smile in place as she watches your antics.

“Heh, sorry Alph.”

“D-Don’t worry about i-it; it’s pretty f-funny watching you two, i-if I’m honest.”

She giggles, her cute snorts filling the room, before she stops herself with another polite cough as she notices the slightly bashful expressions the two of you are displaying.

“A-ahem. Anyway. Today w-we’ll be attempting the a-attack physical and g-general energy a-analysis. Is that o-ok with you?”

“Of course! Uh….that was the test that has a battle, right?”

“Yup. But the other one is pretty easy, so don’t worry ‘bout it.”

“...what was the other one again?”

“I-it just tests t-to see how well you s-sense magic being used a-around you – nothing scary, I p-promise.”

You give her a warm smile – she always seemed to notice if you were nervous about something; tests and the like had always made you feel pretty unnerved. It somehow made you feel even more secure, knowing that she was looking out for your best interests in that sense, as well as everything else.

“Ok. Uh, so….who’s gonna do the battle thing?”

Alphys practically smirks at that, and your eyes automatically narrow in suspicion.

“O-oh, don’t worry, I’ve g-got that all sorted. Sans, you’ll be a-able to come with us this t-time, if you like – y/n won’t need to uh, h-have her soul out today.”

“Uh, sure….if that’s ok with you, bud?”

“Yeah, of course it is!”

Sans gives you a small smile at your instant answer, before Alphys starts to make her way towards the testing rooms, gesturing for the two of you to follow.

She leads you past the usual room this time, turning a corner in the maze of corridors, before finally coming to a stop in front of the designated room.

“H-here we are.”

She opens it up, that sly smirk still in place, and you can see why when the opening door reveals….

“Papyrus?!”

Papyrus lets out a ‘nyeh heh heh’ at your stupefied exclamation, standing proudly in the centre of the room as you all enter. It’s quite a different space compared to the other room you’d admittedly grown used to – it’s huge, for one thing, and set out more like a gym or dancing studio space; perfect, considering the test about to take place.

Sans doesn’t look particularly surprised to see his brother there – in fact, he actually looks a little relieved; as he’d told you before, Papyrus had supreme control over his magic attacks, so he really was the perfect candidate in terms of battling you safely. Even if he did hit you, you doubt that you’d take much damage; though you had to wonder why Sans hadn’t volunteered to be the one to battle you. But then, perhaps his attacks were a little too powerful in another sense, even if his ‘description’ said that they’d only take off 1 HP – you make a mental note to ask him about it later.

“Wow...you certainly got here….fast. I mean, _really_ fast.”

“I ran!….and took the ferry. But the journey was mostly composed of running! Looks as if you’ve been thoroughly japed by the great Papyrus, sister! Nyeh heh heh!”

“Heh, looks as if I have! How long have you two been scheming, eh?”

“I-I asked him l-last night, actually.”

“And I was more than happy to oblige! I’m happy to be helping you, even if it’s something small, sister. As long as….as long as you are ok with it?”

You feel your soul grow warm with affection for him, and before you’re aware of what you’re doing, you’d started to run across the room, launching yourself at Papyrus for a flying hug – he catches you with ease, swinging you around as if you were a child while you both laugh gleefully at the situation. Eventually, he puts you down, his usual blinding smile in place as he looks down at you.

“Papyrus….why are you always so damn cool?”

He chuckles, patting the top of your head.

“R-right, so I’ll n-need to place these on y-your vital points b-before we begin...”

You follow Alphys over to a screened area, while she gets out some sticky pads; you remember reading about the vital points in ‘Of Soul Matter and Magic’ - they weren’t all that dissimilar to where the major pulse points were on a human. After placing them, you both exit the screened area and back into the open space – Papyrus was stood in the centre of the room, clearly ready. For the barest of moments, you feel nervous; after all, you hadn’t been in a battle for so long. But then you remembered that this was _Papyrus_ – the monster that called you sister.

You were safe. You didn’t need to worry. Everything was going to be ok.

You let out a slightly uneasy breath, taking your place across from Papyrus – he offers you a reassuring, bright smile, which you return (albeit nervously). Alphys had meanwhile made her way over to what appeared to be a control desk, and was clacking her claws against the numerous buttons to ensure that the scanner was up and running. Sans simply stood on the sidelines, leaning against the wall and watching your expressions carefully, grinning whenever your eyes happened to meet.

“R-right! I-I would say that e-everything is ready now. A-are you both ok?”

“I’m very well, good Dr. Alphys!”

“I’m ok. Just a little….heh, nervous.”

“Do not worry, sister! I promise that you won’t come to any harm whatsoever!”

“Oh, uh, I know that, don’t worry….I don’t even know _why_ I’m nervous, to be honest.”

You laugh awkwardly, before letting out a gentle huff.

“I’m ready. I’ll be ok.”

Alphys gives a slight nod towards you from behind the control desk, her smile gentle and comforting. Papyrus meanwhile extended his gloved hand, obviously exaggerating his movements so you’d be aware of what he was doing.

“Ready, sister?”

“Yup! Let’s do this!”

He grins, before making that familiar ‘come hither’ movement that would call your soul to the surface for ‘battle’ – you feel the old, gentle tug, and exhale reflexively at the sensation as the bright flash of your soul coming to the surface momentarily blinds you. You blink away the after-image, looking up to read Papyrus’ stats.

**PAPYRUS. HP:680. HE LIKES TO SAY “NYEH HEH HEH!”**

...well, it was an accurate description.

You stifle your oncoming giggles upon reading his description pretty abruptly, however, when you take in his expression; an expression that you’d never seen from Papyrus, and certainly never wanted to see.

He looked utterly heartbroken.

 

It’s then that you realise that he’d had no idea about your HP level.

 

“Oh….oh, Papyrus, I’m so sorry.”

The battle abruptly comes to an end, and he holds up a gloved hand to Alphys.

“J-just wait a moment, Dr. Alphys.”

Alphys doesn’t even have time to reply before Papyrus is across the room, grabbing you up in a tight hug. For a while, all is silent, before he lets you go, placing his gloved hands upon your shoulders to look you in the eyes – it’s then that you realise that there appeared to be a luminous orange liquid running from his sockets.

He was crying.

“Oh, oh no, Paps-”

He chuckles softly, cutting you off as he shakes his head.

“Y/n….I’m sure you’ll get sick of hearing me say this, but….I’ll always be here for you. And I’ll _never_ stop being here for you. So please…. _please_ ….”

You shush him, wiping away his tears with your sleeve.

“I know Paps, I know.”

Hesitantly, you reach out, before firmly patting the top of his head; he seems to freeze in astonishment, and you giggle nervously.

“I, uh, know that I’m shorter than you, but….well, like you said, it’s comforting, right?”

Papyrus lets out something that sounds a hell of a lot like a snort of laughter, which catches you a little short, considering you’d never heard a noise like that come out of him before. But your head patting seems to have done the trick as he straightens, giving you a classic Papyrus smile as he does so.

“Well then, sister, shall we continue?”

You nod, still a little unsure if he’d recovered or not; but your fears prove unwarranted as Papyrus once again takes his place opposite you, and with a quick look to Alphys to confirm that he was allowed to proceed, your soul is once more brought to the surface. Preparing yourself, you absent-mindedly look back at his stats.

**PAPYRUS. HP:680. HE ONLY WANTS HIS BROTHER AND SISTER TO BE HAPPY.**

You can’t help the soft dismayed gasp that escapes you at that, but you quickly shake yourself; if you got upset now, it would only upset him further – but you do swear internally that you’ll do all in your power to make sure that Papyrus was happy. A kind, genuine soul like his didn’t deserve unhappiness.

“Sister! Has my brother informed you about what blue attacks are?”

“...oh! Um...they’re ones that you need to be still for, right?”

“Indeed! So, no dodging for this battle – just stay as still as you can!”

You blink in surprise, but do as instructed; it was probably the safest way to conduct this particular experiment. And so you stand there, ignoring all your inner alarms as Papyrus sends a torrent of bone attacks your way – they looked _almost_ exactly the same as the bone that Sans had randomly materialised when he’d been explaining attacks before, aside from the fact that they almost didn’t look real; they were indeed, very blue, but they were also transparent, almost as if they were merely the ghosts of former attacks. They were not, however, the same kind of turquoise blue that Sans’ magic seemed to possess, which struck you as odd to start with (Papyrus’ seemed to be more along the lines of royal blue) – until it occurred to you that, as Toriel had said so long ago, monsters’ soul attributes were represented through the colours seen in their magic. So of course Sans and Papyrus, even when using the same of kind of magic ‘attack’ would show clear differences. Your thoughts were interrupted suddenly, as the attacks were upon you, and you shut your eyes tight just before they hit, so that you wouldn’t flinch; but before you realised it, the familiar sensation of your soul being returned to you echoed throughout your being.

You slowly opened your eyes, looking over to Alphys with clear surprise.

“….that’s it?”

“Y-yup! I-it doesn’t take v-very long.”

You hum thoughtfully, before striding across the room and hugging Papyrus hard, resulting in him letting out a surprised ‘nyeh?!’.

“...thanks Paps.”

You don’t specify what you’re thanking him for; you know that he’ll understand that it’s not just for today. He hugs you back just as hard (even if he had to stoop a little to do so – the downfall of having a human for a friend, you supposed), patting your head as he did so, which made you giggle gently under your breath (you’d never understand these skeletons and their repetitive attentive touches – not that you were really complaining).

“It’s quite alright, sister. I, the great Papyrus, will always be here when you need me. Now!”

He straightens up, and you let go, raising your brow in question.

“Is there anything else that you need me for, Dr. Alphys?”

“O-oh well, there is o-one more test – it’s a general e-energy analysis.”

“Oh yes, I actually know that-”

Papyrus cuts himself off mid-sentence, as an expression of sudden realisation crosses his face - but as quickly as that expression appears, it’s promptly replaced by an expression you couldn’t quite define.

“Dr. Alphys, do you not think that…. _Sans_ would be far more appropriate for that particular exam?”

Alphys frowns for a moment, appearing to be slightly confused by his statement; before she too, has an expression of sudden realisation cross her features.

“Y-you know, I think t-that you’re right! Sa-Sans, that would be ok…..wouldn’t i-it?”

Both Alphys and Papyrus stare openly at Sans for his reply, leaving him to sweat on the spot; you meanwhile look between the whole group with growing confusion.

“I…. _uh_ …..sure, why not.”

Alphys makes a satisfied squeaking noise, tapping out something on the control table with a smile; Papyrus also, looks oddly smug, nodding approvingly with his brother’s choice, before reaching down and giving your head one final pat.

“I’m happy that I’ve been able to help you today, y/n. I shall see the two of you at home – I hope that you’re hungry for spaghetti!”

“Always am, bro.”

“Heh, sounds good…..and thank you, again, Papyrus.”

He makes a happy noise in the back of his throat, giving you one of his award-winning smiles before heading out of the testing space, calling out cheerful goodbyes to everyone as he went. You let out a long, regretful exhale, watching him go. You couldn’t quite shove down that feeling of guilt; the very idea of Papyrus being unhappy about anything was actually nauseating, even if it wasn’t truly your fault, technically. You just hoped that he was ok, after the shock of seeing your abysmal HP level. No, you’d have to make up this afternoon to him somehow – even if it meant getting up early for a week to go training with him….

 

…..his smile would be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tiny tornado has finally made an appearance ;D Also, Papyrus being his bean self. :'3  
> Soooo....see you all tomorrow, then. x'D  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/


	46. Unavoidable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we discover a strange 'sound'...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

“Right!”

You slap your hands together decidedly, promptly cutting through the silence left in the wake of Papyrus’ exit.

“Uh….so are we doing this next test straight away? Or are we going to look at the other results first?”

“W-well, it’ll take a little w-while for the re-results to come through….so we c-could do the next one first? I-if that’s ok?”

“Yup, ok with me – Sans?”

He jolts a little in surprise at being addressed, blinking at you owlishly, clearly having been lost in his thoughts before-hand.

“Huh?”

“...the test? You ok to do it now?”

He blinks once more, his eye-lights narrowing down a little at your question.

“...I mean, are you actually ok with being in the test? I mean, it’s alright if-”

He chuckles, cutting you off with a dismissive wave of a hand, his grin hitching at the corners of his mouth unnaturally.

“Yeah, I’m fine with it, don’t worry bud.”

“….then why do you look so nervous?”

“I...uh….”

You immediately recognise the familiar look of awkwardness on his features – it’s a subject that he’s not comfortable with discussing.

“ _Oh_. Ooh, ok then, I gotcha. Well, as long as you’re...actually alright with it?”

“Yeah, I’m….I’m fine. Just a little nervous, like you said.”

You huff slightly at that, but smile at him all the same, ignoring the biting worry and curiosity you’re currently experiencing in the face of his nervousness.

“So, what do we have to do for this one? I mean, I know you said it’s about seeing if I can sense magic use, but, uh….. _how_?”

Alphys snorts delicately at your eloquence, covering her snout as she did so.

“Hehe….we-well, it’s actually q-quite fun – well, I l-like to think so, anyway.”

“... _well_ , that’s comforting, at least?”

She giggles, Sans laughing with her this time; though it was obvious that he was still feeling nervous, given the slightly higher pitch his laugh seemed to possess.

“W-well, f-follow me – it’s just over here.”

You quirk your head gently to the side in confusion, but follow anyway as she taps her way across the room – you hadn’t noticed initially, but in the very corner appeared to be a set of doors, which you first assumed to be cupboards; however, your assumption was proven to be incorrect as Alphys opened the right-hand door and started to usher you in.

“Sans, y-you can sit down in the other r-room – I’ll call o-over when we’re re-ready.”

“’kay. See ya in a sec, bud.”

And with that, Sans walked briskly into the room, shutting the door behind him before you could even think about replying. You hum worriedly, simply staring at the now closed door for a long time before Alphys softly coughed; you mentally shake yourself, walking past her and into the small room. All in all, it was pretty unassuming, as rooms went – there was a soft and rather cushy looking black leather reclining chair in the centre, along with a small control desk to the right of the room, which was obviously used for recording; and that was all. Nothing that really gave you any clue or information regarding the test.

“O-ok then – just s-sit down, and we’ll g-get you set up.”

You did as requested, plopping yourself down on the chair’s soft and thankfully comfy surface, watching curiously as she quickly ducks under the desk, retrieving a cardboard box which appeared to contain some sort of strange head-gear.

“So, uh, before we do this….I was gonna ask a favour?”

She stops fidgeting with the equipment for a moment, looking over at you curiously.

“Yeah….uh, there’s no other way to put this, heh….I was wondering if you could show me how to take out my soul by myself? I was thinking about it the other day, as you know – I just want to check on how the crack’s doing. Sans did say that it might not even be possible for humans to do so, though….”

Alphys hums a little at your question, clearly thinking it over as she taps her claws absent-mindedly over the surface of the head-gear.

“W-well, it’s not _impossible_ , but it would c-certainly be difficult. I…..hm. W-well, we can c-check on how i-it’s looking n-now while I e-explain.”

She carefully places the head-gear back down, approaching your side.

“B-basically it involves be able to s-sense your own soul e-energy. Now, we’ve a-always assumed that h-humans would be u-unable to, or at least find it e-extremely difficult, given the fact that they have a p-pretty low magic percentage, but….”

“….but I have a pretty high percentage. If the results are right.”

“Y-yes. But t-that doesn’t mean that y-you’ll be able to s-sense it – actually, the t-test we’re about to do w-will determine if you’re able to s-sense that kind of thing. Anyway….if you a-are aware of i-it, you n-need to focus hard on that energy, and….p-pull.”

“….that’s it?”

“H-heh, sorry. I-it must sound pretty s-silly...”

“Oh, no, uh, not silly – just…. _simple_. I kind of expected something stupidly dramatic.”

She giggles at that, her insecurities vanishing instantly.

“W-well, I suppose for m-monsters it _is_ pretty s-simple….I don’t know h-how difficult it’ll be for y-you, though.”

“Eh, I can try it at some point. Nothing to lose, really.”

She smiles at this with something akin to soft sympathy, before carefully reaching over to you and making the familiar pulling motion; you could have never guessed that it was far more literal than it looked, given her description of how monsters sensed soul energy.

Your soul popped out of your chest, the colours shining bright – you had to squint just to be able to look upon it. The small room didn’t help much with the brightness, either; but you could see enough to notice that the crack was near enough gone – instead it had joined the sea of fractures across the surface, the only mar on your kaleidoscope soul. You heave out a gentle sigh of relief, Alphys mimicking the sound next to you, before your soul slides carefully back into your being.

“W-well, it’s certainly l-looking better!”

“Yeah – and I have you guys to thank for that.”

She grins, making a slightly flustered, though all together pleased noise as she heads back over to the equipment.

“W-w-well, I….I mean….we re-really care about you, y/n.”

You smile back, quickly turning your attentions to the equipment to save her from being flustered further.

“So, what’s with that thing?”

“O-oh!”

She lifts it up, bringing it over for you to examine. All in all, it’s pretty unassuming – it looks to be a combination of heavy head-phones and chunky sunglasses, wired up to sensors on either side.

“It’s basically….hm. Have y-you ever heard of sensory d-deprivation?”

You nod, curious despite yourself.

“Well, t-this works more or less in the s-same way – y-you won’t be a-able to hear or see….of course, total sensory deprivation is f-far more extreme, but….a-anyway. Sans will deliberately use s-some kind of magic in t-the other room when I t-tell him to, and y-you’ll have to s-sense it.”

“…. _right_ , ok. And the sensors attached to me will pick up on it if I can?”

“Y-yup! I m-mean, you’ll also have t-this-”

She holds up a little black remote with a singular red button.

“-w-which you’ll hold down if you t-think you sense anything. T-then you release it w-when y-you think it s-stops.”

“….huh, you weren’t kidding when you said that it was a pretty simple test.”

She giggles lightly under her breath, handing you the remote, which you clutch onto tightly, ensuring that you wouldn’t lose it later when you wouldn’t be able to see. Alphys continued to fiddle with the head-gear, untangling wires and softly humming a song which you didn’t recognise as she did so.

“Did you create that, then?”

“O-oh, this? Oh n-no, not at all. Actually, a-all of the equipment I have a-are things that the former h-head scientist created – I upgraded some t-things here and there, though. And of c-course, some of the s-scanners are _completely_ broken….”

“...still, it’s pretty cool that you can do that kind of thing. Heh, I’ve never been all that great when it comes to machinery.”

She smiles, if not a little sadly.

“T-to be honest, it’s o-one of the only things I-I can say I’m completely c-confident in. S-sure, I might know the basic m-mechanics of soul work, b-but….not like the fo-former head scientist. He w-was brilliant. I-I’m not sure I-I’ll _ever_ be able t-to-”

“ _Alphys_. Sure, this guy might have been brilliant – but you’re amazing too. Not everyone has the same talents, you know? It’s like this – take me, for instance. I know jack shit about souls; I only know what I do know because of you and Sans. But does that make me less of a person for it?”

“….n-no.”

“Exactly. You’re a fantastic scientist, Alphys.”

She blushes, letting out a flustered squeak, before hurriedly coughing to cover it up.

“T-t-thanks, y/n. N-now, are you ok with p-putting this on?”

“Yup! Uh, one thing, though? How am I supposed to know what to look for?”

“….o-oh, with magic? K-kind of….s-static, maybe?”

“...so basically just something a little out of the ordinary? I mean, that’s what the sensory deprivation is for, right? To concentrate without outside interference.”

“E-exactly! R-right, I’ll j-just put t-this on….and I-I’ll squeeze your h-hand when w-we’re g-going to begin, ok?”

“Yup!”

Alphys gives you one last reassuringly smile, before slipping the head-gear over your ears and face, where it settles surprisingly comfortably.

And you’re plunged into complete, perfect darkness and silence.

The first thing that strikes you is how similar it is to being in the Void; though completely different at the same time. For one thing, the Void….was like a _constant_ pressure. As Gaster had often said – the Void was avidly trying to consume, devour, destroy. Even if it seemed to mostly ignore your presence when you slept now, you couldn’t shake the feeling that it wanted to absorb you. No, this darkness was peaceful, silent and clear – while you were still quite aware of the fact that you were sitting in the cushy reclining chair, it almost felt as if you were floating; you felt yourself relaxing in the worn leather chair all the more, enjoying the perfect silence, at least for a moment.

You jolted slightly when Alphys placed her claws over one of your hands; she gently patted, as if to reassure you and to apologise for making you jump – you patted back in acknowledgement and forgiveness. Then, you allowed yourself to relax once more, laying your head back into the chair and focusing on the darkened silence, waiting with rapt attention (and a little excitement) for anything strange to appear.

For what seems like hours, there is simply nothing; you start to feel slight disappointment, as you’d at least hoped that you’d have a sliver of a chance of being able to take out your own soul.

But then, something changes.

Suddenly, you start to sense a humming – it wasn’t hearing it however, not even close. More like a vibration on your skin, only…. _deeper_. It was almost musical; gentle and lilting, like the sensation silk leaves as it slides across your skin.

You quickly click down on the button, excitedly waiting for more.

The humming becomes stronger, deeper, as if pleased you can acknowledge it; you continue to hold down the button as you settle into the recognition. You had to admit, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling – the ‘sound’ was calming, in a bizarre way; in the same way that birdsong is pleasant to listen to, or the way that soft materials caress your skin when touched. The humming grows stronger still, as if enticing you to join in – for a moment, you unconsciously hum with your voice, attempting to re-create it, before cutting yourself off as you realised that Alphys was probably watching you with growing confusion. Besides, your voice didn’t come close to the hum, not even a little. You find yourself concentrating harder, remembering what Alphys had said to you about souls before the test.

“… _.you n-need to focus on that energy, and….p-pull.”_

If that was how you removed your soul….was that what you needed to do in order to hum back? At this point, you’re not even sure _why_ it was so important to hum back – it was like an itch that desperately needed to be scratched. Decidedly, you settle yourself into the darkness a little more, a little deeper – and you searched for something that sounded even the least bit similar to the humming that surrounded your everything. To begin with, much like when you first started the test, there was nothing – but all of sudden, a strange sensation echoed throughout you, making you take in an involuntary gasp at the feeling. It was just so _alien_ , yet as familiar as your own face; it was a great deal softer as a ‘noise’ compared to the original humming – and a much higher pitch. Comparing them proved difficult, yet they somehow complimented each other perfectly – the second you felt your own ‘hum’ (or at least, that was what you assumed the higher ‘sound’ to be), it started to dance around the deeper tones, like two clouds of smoke curling around one another. It was strangely beautiful, and somehow, your soul simply soared at the sensation, the feeling of closeness, the _perfect_ companionship-

Then, just like that, the deeper hum vanished – cut off without rhyme nor reason.

You couldn’t help your crushing disappointment; you already missed the deeper hum desperately, even though you were sure that it hadn’t been present for all that long – and the worst thing was, you couldn’t figure out for the life of you why you missed it as much as you did. You release the button, ignoring the bitter tears in your eyes as own ‘hum’ seemed to pitch sorrowfully at the loss, before the world around you faded back into silence as you managed to calm yourself down.

You couldn’t help the slight shriek of shock that erupted out of you, however, when Alphys gently tapped your hand; but she kept her hand on yours, to her credit – obviously trying to reassure you and prepare you for her removing the head-gear, which is exactly what she did next.

You wince, shutting your eyes almost immediately at the suddenly overly bright lighting; Alphys allows you a moment to readjust yourself.

“A-are you ok?”

“Heh…. _wow_ , that was kinda intense.”

She chuckles, placing the head-gear back into the cardboard box.

“Y-yeah.”

“I….I think I _might_ have sensed something. I mean, it might be wishful thinking, but...”

“...y-you pressed the remote.”

“...yeah. But I guess we’ll see the results, huh?”

She casts you a slightly enigmatic smile, nodding, before gesturing for you to follow her as she exited the room. Sans was already waiting outside, his brow furrowed with clear, worried thought; but his eye-lights seem to brighten when they land on you, his smile growing easy.

“Hey bud. How was it?”

“Pretty spooky.”

He sniggers at that, rolling his eye-lights, but otherwise biting his tongue in terms of comments. Alphys had already made her way across the majority of the room, so you start to jog in order to catch up; whilst Sans lazily teleports just behind her, winking teasingly at you as you finally reach them – you go to poke him angrily in the side as revenge, but he simply side-steps, his usual grin stretching wider in amusement.

You feel pretty glad that he’s cheered up some, considering his earlier nervousness; but you had to wonder what his contribution to the test actually was, considering all you had to do was sit in a chair and concentrate. Did he just spend his portion of the test teleporting lazily from one corner of his room to the other?

You swallow your confusion for the moment, however, as you make your way back to what you considered Alphys’ ‘living room’. You and Sans take a seat whilst Alphys quickly scampers over to a nearby machine, which is happily spitting out paper after paper of results.

You sigh tiredly, leaning back into the couch cushions as you look over at the growing collection of papers.

“Wonder how much of this I’ll be able to get my head around…?”

“Heh, wanna take bets?”

“Not on your life, buddy. I know when to pick my battles, and this is one I would most definitely lose.”

Sans snorts, his frame shaking with laughter as Alphys carefully taps her way back over to the couch, her claws swamped with papers. Sans almost eagerly reaches out for his half, his eye-lights dilated with interest – something which struck you as rather odd, considering his general unease before the test; but you shook off your concerns, knowing that you’d soon know the results for yourself. Before long, the papers are spread out on the surface of the coffee table, both Sans and Alphys taking hurried notes and making thoughtful noises as they read over the information – which, of course, led you to boredom, considering how little you could grasp with your limited knowledge on souls.

You lean back a little deeper into the cushions, sighing as you let your mind wander back to what had happened during the test – and the _humming_. If you assumed that you could, in fact, sense magic, and the deeper humming was Sans using his – did that mean that you had really sensed your own soul?

Could you….do it again?

You look over to your friends, noting that they would most definitely be a while, given the studious expressions; so it wasn’t as if you didn’t have the time to attempt sensing it once more.

You shut your eyes, willing your muscles to relax, and for your mind to quieten; true, it was definitely harder to concentrate, given the fact that there was noise around you, and you were most certainly not in perfect darkness, but you were still determined to try.

Your heart beats a little faster in surprise when you realise that you _can_ in fact hear the same noise as before – it’s there, just below the surface, humming under your skin comfortingly, almost singing when you acknowledge it. You open your eyes, feeling something akin to delight when you can still hear it, albeit much, much quieter. You shut your eyes again quickly in order to preserve your concentrated state, enjoying the sounds and sensations as it started to echo louder once more – before you feel yourself stiffen a little as you realise that you can ‘hear’ something else, along with your own noise.

Very, _very_ faintly, you swear that you can still hear what you assumed to be Sans.

Something which your soul seemed most pleased at, if you interpreted the singing tones correctly.

You open your eyes again, warily looking over to him, just to check he wasn’t using magic; which he wasn’t, clearly still very much focused on reading the papers and making notes, his brow furrowed in adept concentration. Frowning to yourself, you shut your eyes once more, before you dumbfoundedly note other ‘noises’, which join the steadily growing cacophony in your skull – there was an almost simplistic note instead of a hum, consistent, but varying in pitch occasionally, almost fluttering. It was gentle, small, and oddly sweet.

_Could that possibly be….Alphys?_

If it was, it certainly suited her. But that didn’t explain the other ‘noise’ which was….frankly _odd_. And unlike the other ‘sounds’, it wasn’t comforting or sweet in the least. Not that it made you feel unsettled, or anything – in fact, it didn’t really make you feel much of anything. It was more of a vibration than anything else; something so low that you could hardly catch it, but it was there, all the same. But one thing you were most definitely sure of was that it simply _reeked_ of raw power.

You jerk open your eyes, shaking yourself slightly; you didn’t even know the results of the test yet, so for all you knew, this ‘hearing’ business could simply be wishful thinking on your part. Still, if it wasn’t, and you were able to grasp hearing your own soul so easily…

...did that mean it wouldn’t be horrifically difficult to call forward your own soul? That it would actually be…possible to do?

And then there was the thing with Sans. You soul’s hum hadn’t jumped about in joy when you managed to notice Alphys’ ‘sound’, or the strange vibration – was it because you spent so much time with him? Some sort of recognition? Or perhaps it-

You’re snapped out of your thoughts rather suddenly by a hard poke to your cheek; you jump reflexively, scowling at Sans as you rubbed at your face, feeling some irritation as your concentration had broken, thoroughly taking the humming away with it.

“Dude, what did I say about scaring me?”

“Hey, to be fair, I honestly didn’t mean to do it that time.”

You grumble under your breath, but allow his statement, considering the genuine surprise in his expression, even if he was now smirking just a touch.

“You ok, bud? Looked pretty deep in thought, is all.”

“Yeah, I’m….I’m ok.”

Sans looks dubious, brow bone raised slightly as he examined your face, eye-lights drinking in your expressions.

“...hmm, you sure ‘bout that?”

“No, honestly, I’m ok! Just….thinking about something a little deep, I guess, heh.”

He examines you for a moment longer, before humming decisively, and looking back to his scribbled notes – but you could tell from his expression that you weren’t quite let off the hook as of yet.

“So, uh, anything interesting results wise?”

“….well, as always, you’re apparently an enigma.”

“…. _fantastic_.”

Alphys promptly elbows Sans, who lets out a laughing grunt.

“I-ignore him. It’s just a l-little confusing, that’s a-all.”

You roll your eyes with a groan.

“So, same as always, then.”

“N-not quite – t-there are c-certain things here that at least m-makes things a little cl-clearer.”

“Oh?”

You sit forward, your eagerness showing through despite yourself – _any_ kind of answer would be nice, after all. But before Alphys can so much as open her mouth, a machine nearby starts to beep angrily; frowning to herself, she stands, walking over to it and tapping a few buttons.

“O-oh….that’s a l-little odd.”

“What’s up, Alph?”

“...P-Papryus is at the d-door.”

Sans expresses mute confusion, automatically looking over to the door in question with a worried expression, which you mirrored – after all, you both knew how important his training was to him, so for him to suddenly appear back at the lab after finishing his portion of the test was frankly concerning. Alphys presses a button on the machine decisively, turning in the direction of the front door herself as it slides open, letting in an exhausted, and incredibly panicked, Papyrus.

Before anyone can so much as breathe, he’s across the room and grasping hard at your shoulders (to the point that you actually find yourself wincing), gasping for breath as he struggled to get his words out.

“... _y-y/n_..”

Squirming slightly in his grasp, you attempt to motion for him to calm himself – something which is pretty impossible to do with your arms held tight to your sides.

“Oh man, _ouch_ , Paps, look, sit down and-”

He viciously shakes his head, his sockets wide as he continues to gasp, his fingers still pinching hard at your shoulders, attempting to make you stand, but shaking too much to actually force you to do so.

“ _No!_ Y-you….you….don’t...”

Sans clasps a hand on his brother’s shoulder, his face twisted with concern – and you could more than understand why, as this was far from usual Papyrus behaviour. In fact, this kind of panic was something you’d only ever seen from his brother; while you were sure that Papyrus suffered from worry on occasion, he had far more control over such things.

So whatever it was that got him so upset, it had to be….pretty bad.

“Paps? Bro? C’mon, just take a breath, and calm down, ok?”

Papyrus straightens himself slightly, doing as his brother commanded for a moment, sockets closed in concentration – but the second he can finally catch his breath, his face quickly becomes desperate again, his form quivering with obvious urgency.

“Sans! We need to get y/n out here, _now, right now!_ ”

“Why, bro? What’s up?”

Papyrus says nothing for a moment, a range of tormented expressions crossing his face – and when he finally does speak, it’s so quiet that you almost miss it; and some part of you really wishes that you had.

 

“ _Undyne_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...sorry for the fiiiiisssshhhyyy ending, ahaha ;) *kill me now*  
>  Thank you again for all your support, guys - you're awesome and I'm sending you a metric fuck ton of internet affection >.<
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/


	47. The Magic Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally meet the Royal Guard Captain...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

“….what do you mean, Papyrus?”

“ _Undyne_! She….she knows about y/n, brother. She knows that there’s a human in the Underground. And….and she knows that y/n’s….here. In the lab.”

“...how?”

Sans’ face is more or less expressionless as he says this, eye-lights almost completely blank and emotionless – but you saw that his fists were shaking, with rage or some other emotion, you couldn’t quite tell. You honestly didn’t know what to say or feel about the whole thing – you were too shocked to do much other than stare dumbly at your friends as they discussed.

Papyrus looks slightly nervous at Sans’ question, clearly also noticing his brother’s body language; he fidgeted in place, toying with his gloves as he spoke, his brow puckered with worry.

“Brother….I feel as if telling you who told her at this point would be of no use, considering the fact that Undyne is on her way here _right now_.”

“…. _fine_. We’ll talk about who ratted on her later. But for now, we need to get her out of here-”

“W-wait! You c-can’t just go! N-now that she knows t-that y/n’s in the U-Underground, she’ll never r-rest until s-she’s….u-until...”

Alphys lets out a shuddering sigh, her body quaking as she looked over at you with obvious fear for your safety. You finally manage to shake yourself out of your frozen state, digging your fingernails into the palms of your hands in an effort to stop yourself from dissociating.

“But what can we do? Either I run and she finds me, or she finds me now.”

“...not necessarily. I have some ideas.”

“Like _what_ , Sans? You heard Alphys! She won’t rest until she’s found me. And after what you told me at Grillby’s, I know how determined she can be – you know that she won’t stop until I’m dead.”

Sans immediately turns to you, his eye-lights burning fiercely in his sockets, magic flaring momentarily.

“I will _not_ let her hurt you, y/n.”

“And neither will I, sister!”

You shake you head viciously, not able to bring yourself to force a smile for your friends, not in this kind of situation.

“No. Look, I don’t want any of you to lose your friendship with Undyne over….over me.”

Sans’ expression finally reflected his rage at your words, smile twisting into a snarl, his left socket flickering with his magic once again for a spilt second.

“Hell no. Don’t you _dare_ think like that – I don’t give a flying _fuck_ if-”

“Brother, _please_. I’m sure that there’s a way for this to be resolved peacefully.”

Sans laughs incredulously at this, grin stretched wide with sarcasm, making Papyrus instantly wince.

“ _Peacefully_? Bro, you know as well as I do, Undyne can be anything but peaceful.”

“...I believe in her, Sans.”

Sans lets out a long, suffering sigh, dragging a hand over his face as he continued to laugh with incredulous bitterness. You meanwhile looked down at your hands, restlessly moving your body; you were suddenly so unsure of everything, you didn’t know what to do with yourself.

On one hand, you, of course, had your sense of preservation – you didn’t want to die, it was pretty simple as thoughts went. But on the other, you also didn’t want for your friends to make such sacrifices for your sake; Papyrus clearly adored Undyne, loved training with her, and obviously strove to be in the Royal Guard. Sans respected her, and knew as well as you did how Papyrus felt about her. You weren’t really sure about Alphys’ connections with the Guard Captain, but you certainly didn’t want to ruin her relationship with her either.

“….guys, I really don’t see a way out of this. I don’t want….I don’t want any of you to get hurt because of me. I don’t….I don’t know what to do.”

“We’ll hide you, y/n – don’t worry ‘bout us.”

“Of course I’m going to worry! Sans, don’t you _dare_ -”

“I-I think that I h-have an i-idea.”

Everyone’s attentions immediately deviate to Alphys, who gulps a little nervously at suddenly being the centre of focus.

“...y-your soul, y/n. It o-occured to me….uh…..am I a-allowed to speak about t-this o-openly?”

You nod without hesitation – Papyrus had already more than proved that he would never judge you, weird soul or no.

“Yes. It’s fine.”

Papyrus, despite the desperate situation, seems to be quite pleased with your decision, smiling over at you (even if said smile was a little wonky due to worry and stress).

“R-right….y/n, after your r-results today….I’m f-fairly sure that w-we now….have a l-legitimate reason not to use y-your soul f-for the barrier.”

 

_**The room goes completely silent.** _

 

… _.what?_

 

“….what do you mean, Dr. Alphys?”

“I-I….y/n, y-your s-soul is _more_ than c-capable of sensing m-magic use. We n-noticed this i-in both t-tests. And….i-it reciprocated, when we d-did the last t-test.”

You simply stared at her, your mind a humming blank. So you hadn’t been imagining the humming? What did that mean if-

Alphys sat down next to you on the couch, patting your hands gently to gain your focus.

“Y/n. I-I t-think….I t-think your soul h-has the p-potential to c-create magic. O-or at least the potential to p-produce an energy s-similar – I can’t be s-sure, as whenever I t-tried to get a c-conclusive answer r-regarding your s-stats, it ap-appeared to be…. _inconclusive?_ O-obviously we’ll n-need to c-confirm my theory, but….Sans? W-was that your c-conclusion, as w-well?”

Sans shifted his feet, his expression blank as he thought things over, twitching hands still betraying his stress.

“I….I don’t know. I mean, it was obvious that she could _sense_ magic use on some level, but I wasn’t….I wasn’t sure that-”

“Sh-she started to hum i-in the e-exam. I mean, w-with her v-voice.”

Sans immediately turns his stare over to you, his eye-lights piercing.

“...I was trying to copy it, I don’t know….it was weird.”

After a short pause of simply staring, he huffs out, tapping his foot, eye-lights changing in sizes as he again thought things over, before finally coming to some kind of conclusion.

“….it’s possible. I mean, we’d need to….do more tests. The ones that you mentioned before, y/n, and maybe….hm.”

“….the risk test?”

His expression turns frankly stormy at that.

“ _No_.”

Alphys quickly speaks up once again, eager to somewhat diffuse the tense situation.

“B-but my i-idea? I-if s-she can produce t-that kind of e-energy – it w-wouldn’t be necessary to u-use her soul i-in a negative sense! Sh-she wouldn’t h-have to….you know.”

Alphys’ eyes sparked with excitement, and to your shock….clear, unwavering _hope_.

“Y/n, y-you might b-be able to break the barrier! Y-you might h-have the en-energy needed to short it out.”

“...wait a minute. Why would a single human soul be able to break the barrier? I mean, there’s the whole thing of ‘seven souls to create the barrier, seven souls to break it’, right? Plus, you guys are a hell of a lot stronger than I am, even if I _could_ use magic-”

“No, bud. Human souls are complete power houses compared to monster souls as it is – if you could use magic on top of everything else….well, if we combined that power with the souls that we already have, it would….probably be enough. We wouldn’t need to….’extract’ your soul if you have that kind of controlled power, is what I’m saying. Especially if that little ‘glitch’ regarding your AT stats is actually accurate.”

“….but I don’t know how to use magic.”

“W-we don’t know that y-yet. B-but if you h-have the p-potential...”

“….then Undyne wouldn’t need to kill me.”

“….still, doesn’t make you completely safe. I really think it’d be better if I took you to-”

“We don’t know how Undyne will react to such news, brother! She has a good soul, I’m sure that she’ll make the right choice.”

Sans allows a small, still slightly twisted, smile at his brother’s unwavering faith and positivity, even in a situation such as this – and you can’t help but join him.

“...still, bro. We need to make sure that y/n is completely safe, if the worst does happen.”

“...t-then, I a-actually have a-another idea.”

Everyone turns to Alphys as she smiles nervously, idly playing with her claws.

“W-we need m-more backup.”

Sans grimaces, immediately guessing the meaning behind her words.

“Oh _great_.”

 

~

 

“Darling, don’t you worry, my new body is installed with _plenty_ of anti-human weapons!”

“….that is not comforting in the least, I have to say.”

“W-what he m-means to say is that h-he has weapons that a-are incredibly strong, t-therefore you’ll be safe.”

“….right.”

You had to admit, apart from learning that particular little tit-bit of information from Mettaton, you couldn’t have felt safer in this kind of situation – your friends had positioned themselves around you in a protective ring; Mettaton and Papyrus in front of you, with Sans and Alphys bringing up the rear. You all stood ready and waiting for Undyne to arrive; according to Papyrus, she would have needed to go home to change into her lighter armour, as the heat from Hotland wouldn’t agree with her, for some odd reason.

To say that you were nervous was an understatement – and your friends weren’t in any better condition.

Mettaton had plastered on his usual bravado, even offering you unwanted advice on your outfit when he arrived (much to Sans’ disgust); but now that you knew him better, you could painfully tell how much of an act this really was. For instance, the boasting about weaponry – you knew that he was far more comfortable in his prima donna’s den, practising make-up perfection.

Papyrus was desperately trying to keep everyone positive and calm, bright smile in place – but you could see his limbs shaking, his smile twitching every so often, and the occasional fidgeting with his gloved hands; it broke your heart to see him under so much pressure, but your mind was still a humming blank in terms of the situation, not knowing how you could fix it, or help in any other way than just….standing still.

Alphys was almost too calm, strangely – which was somehow worse than Papyrus and Mettaton combined. She was clearly covering herself up, putting up wall after wall so she wouldn’t feel nervous, or lose her nerve; you had to wonder what her relationship with Undyne was, as you already knew about how Papyrus and Sans felt about her, and also knew that Mettaton once lived in the same area that she did in the past.

Sans was predictable, given his usual over-protective nature in regards to you – he was as close as he could be without obstructing your movement range; his eye-lights constantly flickered over to you, a tense, forced smile in place, as his fists clenching at every little movement in the room.

 

You _hated_ this.

 

You hated the fact that your friends were under so much strain because of _you_. But you were desperately trying to keep a dampener on your feelings and thoughts, in order not to crack your soul again – you could feel it quivering every so often, but you didn’t want to worry anyone further by mentioning it….though you had the distinct feeling that Sans was more than aware thanks to his abilities, given the fact that every time your soul seemed to shift under the pressure he twitched, his eye-lights flickering to you with clear concern.

You sighed heavily, shifting uncomfortably in place as your mind ran wild, despite your desperate attempts to calm yourself; that is, before you jolt in surprise as a hand grabs your wrist – you look over to Sans, surprised.

“...I know it doesn’t seem like it at the moment, but I promise that it’ll be ok, y/n. It’ll work out. I promise.”

You allow him a small, nervous smile – you knew how much he hated to make promises, so he must have felt pretty strongly about this.

“Thanks. I’ll….try my best.”

He nods, his grin serious (more of a grimace than anything else, but it was obvious he was trying) as he lets go of you, though with apparent regret, if his expression was anything to go by; you openly smirked at his over-protectiveness.

You all jolt in shock when there’s a harsh knocking at the doors to the lab, thoroughly smashing the taught tension in the room – you hear Alphys heave out a heavy, shaking sigh.

“H-here we g-go. Everyone r-ready?”

There are muted murmurs of agreement, and Alphys pushes down the button that would release the lock on the doors with a soft squeak of anxiety; something that she’d clearly been trying to cover up since the start. You desperately wished that you could reach out to comfort her, but you were currently frozen to the spot with your own anxieties.

The doors open, the overwhelming heat from Hotland flowing in for a moment as an armoured figure stepped into view; you couldn’t really see what Undyne looked like, encased as she was. She was wearing a full suit of silver plate armour, which despite Papyrus’ earlier words of her putting on ‘light armour’, did not look light in the least. And given the heavy puffing coming from Undyne, it wasn’t as light as she assumed, either.

There is a moment of silence where everyone simply stands, Undyne clearly examining the scene in front of her; before she makes scoffing noise, her voice oddly muffled from within the suit of armour – but from what you could hear, she had a surprisingly deep and husky voice, with a power and confidence that left you feeling more than aware of your general weakness than ever.

“...what the _hell_ are you nerds doing?”

Papyrus is the first to speak, even though his voice quivers with his clear nervousness; his gaze, however, is as strong as could be.

“W-we’re not going to let you hurt y/n, Undyne. She’s not a bad h-human, not even a little bit – to hurt her would be an _injustice!_ She….she’s our friend.”

Undyne stands in mute silence for a moment, regarding Papyrus as he shivered involuntarily on the spot – but he still stood as proud as ever, clearly determined to guard you. She makes another scoffing noise, before reaching up and yanking off her helmet, allowing it fall to the lab floor with a loud clatter.

You’re not too surprised to find that she’s absolutely beautiful; no, what you’re more surprised about is that she’s distinctly piscine – it now made perfect sense why she wouldn’t like the heat. Her scales were a gorgeous royal blue, her hair a deep and brilliant red, long and flowing; she’d tied it up into a high pony-tail for convenience. On each side of her head were what appeared to be fins, each sporting the same royal blue of her scales and deep red of her hair; you had to wonder if she could actually breathe underwater, as such fins on fishes normally concealed gills. Her remaining eye was an almost alarming shade of green, the sclera a gentle shade of yellow, almost like a cat’s eyes – her left covered over with a black leather eye-patch. Her mouth, however….you’d almost compare it to a shark’s, her teeth were so sharp; and at present, that mouth was set in a grimace, her striking gaze glaring at your group with such a burning passion, you couldn’t help but be mesmerised by it. And to top it all off, she was just a touch below Toriel level height – as if she wasn’t intimidating enough.

“Friend?! Papyrus, it’s a _human_. It’s _tricking_ you.”

Sans immediately flared up next to you; looking over, your stomach twisted in nervousness, seeing that his eye-lights had, once again, extinguished, leaving his sockets empty and unending.

“She’s not an _it_ , Undyne. And she is, whether you like it or not, our friend, and a more than decent person. She hasn’t got any EXP, no LV – she’s been nothing but kind since she fell to the Underground.”

Undyne seems to falter a little at Sans’ terrifying glare, her expression just a touch unsure, but her disdainful anger comes back full force a few seconds later.

“It doesn’t freakin’ matter! Still a _human_ , and still a human _soul_! We’re only one soul away from breaking the barrier – one soul away from freedom! And that human, _right there_ – that’s our ticket out of here!”

“….n-not n-necessarily.”

Undyne looks at Alphys in obvious shock; whether that was due to her statement or the fact that she actually spoke up, you’re not too sure.

“...what do you mean, Alphy?”

Undyne’s voice had dropped to something much softer when addressing Alphys – almost as if she was trying her best not to scare her. Alphys blushes lightly at the nick-name, stuttering unintelligibly for a moment, before finally being able to get her words out.

“H-her s-s-soul, i-is, a-ah-”

“There’s something wrong with my soul.”

All sounds in the room die as Undyne turns to look at you slowly, her single eye staring at you in a manner that made you feel filthy.

“….you wanna come talk to me, human? Come and _do it_.”

Sans makes a scoffing noise of his own, about to retort, but stops himself to quickly grab your arm as you go to step towards the amazonian woman.

“Y/n, what the _hell_ do you think you’re doing.”

“...I’m gonna go talk to her.”

“She’ll _kill_ you, what are you-”

“No, she won’t. She has more honour than that.”

Mettaton turns his head slightly to look at you, his expression uneasy; he’d been completely quiet up until now, which was more than uncharacteristic.

“….darling, I must admit that I agree with Sans on this, it’s too dangerous-”

“You guys. Like I said, she has more honour than that – I mean, c’mon, after all the things I’ve heard about her? She’s not the type of person who’ll just murder me in cold blood in front of her friends who are pretty clearly protesting, even if she does want to take my soul.”

You eyeball Undyne yourself, raising a single eye-brow as you try to stand as proud as you could, despite her view of you being a little obscured by your surrounding friends.

“I mean, all you wanted to do was _talk_ , right?”

Undyne stared back at you; and for the first time, she didn’t look anything akin to angry – in fact, she almost looked impressed, if you had to compare it to anything. But it was just for a fraction of a second; soon her face settled into a stony mask, eye glinting menacingly.

“….right.”

You look back at Sans, your eyes silently begging for him to trust you. He stares at you hard, his eye-lights burning, before looking over at Undyne for a good, long time. Finally, he sighs, letting go of your arm, his gaze clearly yelling for you to be careful. You nod, and started to weave your way between Mettaton and Papyrus, who both let you by, Papyrus gently patting your head as you walked by, his own way of telling you to be careful.

You straighten your back, and keep your gaze locked on Undyne, trying your best to exude an air of confidence; you’re not too sure how it worked out, however, as you almost tripped as you walked over to her (even if you did recover beautifully). Undyne’s face twists in a way that suggested she wanted to laugh when you did so, but she kept it pretty well under wraps, keeping her eye locked on yours with a steely expression as you came to a stop a few steps away from her.

“….so. _Human_. Why can’t your soul be used for the barrier?”

The word ‘human’ almost sounded like a slur, coming from her mouth.

“….I’m not too great on the science of it myself, but-”

Undyne actually snorts at this, grim mirth flickering in her eye for a moment before her gaze returned to being steely.

“Just give me the facts.”

“...right, sorry. Uh, my soul’s weird? Apparently there’s never been a soul recorded that’s like it – Alphys and Sans said that, anyway. And today, um, actually, a little while before you arrived, Alphys figured something out about it – or at least, she thinks that she might have. I mean, she might have to do more tests, but-”

Undyne frowned, her mouth almost forming a snarl as she leaned down towards you a little, studying your face.

“Cut to the _chase_. What did Alphys think?”

“I….”

You pause for a moment, looking down at your feet as you thought over your idea, before gathering up what was left of your courage and looking back at Undyne with as much energy as you could.

“I think that it would be better to show you.”

Undyne blinks in a slightly startled manner, before frowning at you, obviously slightly perturbed by your answer.

“….and what does that mean, huh?”

“It means….”

You gulp, gathering your nerve just a little more.

“It means that I think you should come see my soul for yourself. Then you can make the choice to take it, or not.”

There’s an audible intake of breath behind you at your words, and even Undyne looks openly shocked for a moment; before her mouth twists into a massive, frankly terrifying grin, her eye glinting with that strangely impressed expression she’d had previously.

“Heh. You’re _on_ , punk.”

“...do you mind if Alphys comes?”

Undyne balked a little at your words, smile vanishing.

“Wait, you meant _now?_ ”

“Yeah. Better to get it over and done with, right?”

At this she actually lets out out a laugh, albeit a short one – it was a loud and confident laugh (loud to the point that it almost made you jump, but you just about managed to control your muscles); and far more cheery that you’d previously seen from her character.

“ _Fuhuhu_. Fine with me. C’mon, Alphy.”

You nod, purposely keeping your gaze trained away from your friends; you knew their expressions would erode holes in your grit, and at the present moment it was all that was keeping you on your feet. But you did note the familiar tapping of Alphys’ feet on the tiled flooring as she caught up to you and Undyne, leading you into the usual scanner room.

Digging your fingernails hard into your hands, you head over to the reclining chair, hopping up on it and looking back at Undyne with as collected an expression you can muster; Alphys had followed you, her expression shaking with worry, eyes clouded with threatening tears – but Undyne had stayed by the door, her face almost hesitant as she looked back at you. She continued to study you in silence like that for quite some time, before she sighs softly, entering the room and quietly closing the door.

“….got to admit it, I kinda expected you to run away like a weenie by now.”

You snort, not expecting someone like her to utter the word ‘weenie’ with such a serious expression – you could only imagine the conversations between Papyrus and her.

“I said that I would, right? I keep my word.”

She studies you carefully for a moment more, before she huffs, approaching the chair with clear reluctance, scuffing her armoured feet on the tiles.

“...look punk, this isn’t personal. It’s pretty obvious that you’re a complete and utter wimpy loser with a big heart, and everyone cares about you, and all that – hell, even _Sans_ , and that dude literally only cares about his brother. I’m doing what I’m doing for the good of everyone I care about, you get that, right?”

“I know you are. So am I – believe me, I’ve considered giving my soul up before this. When I first figured out that you guys only needed one more soul, and it was _me_ ….my soul cracked-”

Undyne flinches at your words, baring her teeth in clear revulsion.

“-but it was thanks to everyone that it healed back up. Anyway, my point is, if it really is the only option, and the best option, I’ll….I’ll give up my soul without a fight. Because I want everyone to have the freedom they deserve.”

Undyne simply stands staring at you, her expression growing increasingly conflicted, before she lets out a noise that sounded strangely like, ‘NGAHH’, stomping an armoured foot hard upon the floor as she did so.

 

“Let’s just get this OVER WITH, _human_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so, that was something.  >.>
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/


	48. Snap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we find out Undyne's choice regarding our soul...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

Alphys lets out a nervous, shivering breath, her claws shivering as they hovered over your soul – and before you can so much as even start to, Undyne leaps in to comfort her, her strong features screwed up in evident concern.

“Hey, don’t worry about it – you can do it, Alphys. You’re super tough, remember?”

She grins her shark-like grin, nudging Alphys in the side with such a gentleness you raise your brows in surprise, whilst Alphys smiles nervously back.

“R-right. You’re….r-right.”

Alphys looks back at you, her expression comforting, even though her hands are still clearly shaking with obvious nerves.

“A-are you ok, y-y/n?”

You summon a smile back at her as best you can, not quite trusting your voice, so you nod – despite your earlier bravado, you were absolutely terrified; you didn’t want to think of what your waiting friend’s expressions would be if Undyne ended up walking out with your soul.

 

Especially when they placed their trust in you.

 

Alphys took in another nervous, quivering breath, before reaching over and swiftly pulling your soul out into the open, squeezing her eyes shut as she did so – you couldn’t blame her; if you could shut your eyes, you would, but the fear at the situation had effectively frozen you, eyelids and all.

Undyne lets out a soft gasp despite herself as the crystalline kaleidoscope lights hit her full in the face; for a moment, her face lights up in absolute awe, eye lighting up with pure intrigue – before her grin twists into a grimace resembling something akin to pity, her singular eye slowly travelling up to your face.

“…. _man_. You’ve really had it rough, haven’t you, buddy?”

You shrug with a non-committal noise, not wishing to venture too far into that particular subject, especially not with your literal soul still on the line. Undyne lets out a harsh, huffing breath, rubbing the back of her head as she continues to examine your soul, her expression becoming increasingly conflicted – before slowly shaking her head with a frustrated noise.

“I’ve seen...enough.”

Alphys slides your soul back into your being without another word, before looking up silently at her, her gaze clearly begging. Undyne herself was examining the floor with that same, hard frustration – despite the situation, you actually felt bad for her; it was a lot of pressure for one person, after all.

“….so, you said you found out something, Alphys. What was it? I mean, as….funky looking as her soul is, doesn’t mean that it can’t be used, right?”

“I-I’m n-not so s-sure. To-to-today-”

Alphys gulps, her words obviously hard to get out due to her nervousness; you decide to step in to help, placing a hand over her still shaking claws.

“Today we did exams to see how my soul reacted to magic. And, uh, not only do I have a higher magic level than most humans, but it seems that I can sense it, too? Apparently. And Alphys thinks that I might even be able to produce it, but I’m not so sure, to be honest.”

Undyne had been listening intently to you as you spoke, her eye flashing with clear intrigue, but the second you mentioned that you might be able to produce magic, her shark-like grin made an appearance once more.

“Fuhuhu, that’s kinda bad-ass, twerp – I mean, that would make you a mage, right? Still….”

She frowned, her brow creasing as she examined you.

“You’re lucky that you’re such a wuss. Otherwise I’d have to detain you for being a possible danger to monster kind-”

“S-she’s not d-dangerous!”

Undyne grinned at Alphys as she stood up for you, her voice loud and commanding despite her quivering – she reached down and fondly made a tussling motion a top Alphys’ head.

“Heh, don’t worry, I know that. Pretty obvious that she’s harmless, especially with the way everyone reacts around her – I mean, hell, Sans is-”

She frowned once more, examining you for a moment.

“Wait. Do you know much about him?”

“I know he’s a Judge, if that’s what you mean.”

She let out a slightly relieved breath, before rolling her eye, grumbling under her breath.

“Pfft, shoulda guessed that dope would spill the beans sooner or later – and to a freakin’ human no less, urgh. I mean, yeesh, I’ve never seen him act like that about anyone….well, I mean, his brother, but-”

“Wait, so he’s not usually a mother-hen about things?”

She sniggered, raising her brows as she looked at you incredulously.

“Hell no.”

“S-so….y/n i-is safe, right?”

She looks so painfully hopeful as she looks up at Undyne, still shuddering; Undyne’s expression twists with what you assumed to be guilt as she lets out an incredibly frustrated sigh, looking over at the door with her arms crossed.

“….sure. I mean, at this point, I don’t….NGAHH. It’s just so freakin’ UNFAIR!”

She vehemently shakes her head, her thoroughly pissed off expression returning; you could tell by the way her face was twisting that she was horrifically disappointed, and in a peculiar way, you couldn’t blame her, not one bit.

“I really thought that we had it this time! I thought that we’d be free!”

“...well, uh, it might not be as bad as you think.”

She turned her furious expression upon you full force, her gaze burning into you; you reflexively wince, and her gaze softens, just a touch.

“Oh yeah? And why is that?”

“If I can actually use magic, Alphys and Sans think that I might be able to short out the barrier? Or something like that, anyway. I mean, I can’t use magic at the moment, so we need to do some more tests, but-”

You’re cut off by Undyne’s sudden chortling laughter, her face instantly lighting up once more. That is, before she turns to you with a serious expression.

“Well human, looks like you _better_ learn fast!”

“….dude, I only noticed that I could sense magic today. Like, an hour ago, at most. I don’t know the first thing about-”

“NGAHH! YOU UTTER WIMP!”

You yelp as you suddenly find yourself being snatched up from the examination chair, held aloft as Undyne openly glared at you, her sharp teeth fixed in a snarl.

“ARE YOU REALLY GONNA LET THAT STOP YOU? I thought you had more of a freakin’ backbone! I mean, geez, look at your soul! HAVE SOME FREAKIN’ DETERMINATION!”

You glared back, wriggling uncomfortably in her hold as she promptly shook you.

“Hey, I never said that I wasn’t going to try! I want to get all of you out of here – more than anything. So if there’s a chance, I’m gonna take it!”

“YES! THAT’S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR!”

You grimace a little more, really not enjoying being yelled at with such a close proximity, especially not by someone with a volume akin to Papyrus’, if not louder.

“….you gonna put me down now we’ve established that?”

“….oh right, sorry.”

She finally places you back on your feet with a slightly awkward laugh, her smile twisted in a way that made her teeth stick out at odd, somewhat endearing angles. Alphys watches the exchange with a wobbly smile; you knew exactly how she felt. While you actually found yourself warming up to Undyne, despite her quite possibly being your executioner, she was unpredictable, and it frankly put you on edge.

“W-well, w-we should get back to the o-others – I think they’re p-pretty worried.”

“...oh man, I totally forgot. _Fuhuhu_.”

You roll your eyes, starting to make your way out of the room, before Undyne reaches out grabs your arm in a vice-like grip, effectively stopping your movement; you look back at her in surprise, your fear starting to bubble to the surface once more.

“...no hard feelings, right? I mean, my monologue is supposed to be pretty terrifying, y’know? I mean, I….dude, stop looking at me like that.”

You continue to smirk, despite her wishes; if you’d have known she was this kind of passionate, loud personality, you might have felt slightly better earlier – as it was, you could already see the two of you becoming friends, albeit slightly awkward ones.

That is, as long as your soul remained a mystery.

“Yup. Bet you practised it in front of the mirror for months.”

She flushed, before letting out a slightly shocked snigger, not expecting your sass, but obviously being pleasantly surprised by it.

“Pfft. You’re such a loser.”

She lets go of you as you roll your eyes once more, daring to smile back at her teasingly, before looking back at Alphys, who nodded shortly to indicate she was ready to exit the room; with that, you all made your way out, and back into the common room where everyone was waiting, no doubt anxiously.

You’re confronted with a pretty tense scene – everyone was stood separate to one another. Papyrus looked to be stuck to a singular spot, wringing his gloved hands with clear worry, an uncharacteristic frown that you honestly hated dancing across his features. Mettaton was sat on the couch, examining the ceiling with a frankly depressed expression; it was an expression that ultimately lacked hope, and you immediately felt awful for putting him through something akin to grieving. But Sans was the most alarming; he was pacing, back and forth, over and over, letting out a desperate, fierce growl every so often – he sounded _dangerous_ , perhaps just as dangerous as the time you had spoken about Flowey in the Ruins. When your small group entered, however, they all snapped to immediate attention, their expressions a mixture of dumbfounded, relieved and….blank, if you focused on Sans.

Undyne actually had the decency to look horrifically guilty as she examined everyone, her eye flickering from expression to expression, before she lets out a growling sigh.

“ _Urgh_. The nerd’s fine, see? – she’s safe. So don’t look at me like that, geez.”

Papyrus immediately runs full pelt across the room, grabbing you and swinging you around, joyfully laughing, tears springing up in the corners of his sockets.

“Sister! You’re ok!”

You laughed along, desperately trying to pat him as you were swung in the air (inwardly, you had some worry about your shoes flying off, but luckily for you, they did not). Eventually, the swinging ceased and you were place back down, which you were appreciative of, considering you really didn’t want to experience any serious vertigo, not after the trials of today.

Now that Papyrus was closer to your proximity (and visibly less excited), he pulled back slightly, grasping your shoulders and clearly examining you for any injuries, his gaze calculative; but he smiled bright once more when he concluded that you really were unhurt. But no sooner had Papyrus let you go, you were grabbed up once more, this time by a pair of ice-cold metallic limbs that had you instantly shivering.

“Oh, thank _goodness!_ Darling, I was so concerned for your safety – don’t you ever do that again!”

You laughed breathlessly, attempting to apologise to the metallic star, but the sudden shock of being so cold had stolen your voice momentarily; Undyne frowned somewhat, clearly annoyed by Mettaton’s dramatic nature. But just as she opened her mouth, clearly about to say something, her attention was quickly claimed by Papyrus as he approached her; you couldn’t see his face, but it was clearly a little startling, given the utter surprise on Undyne’s face.

“Undyne. You’re truly one of my closest friends, and as the Guard Captain, I admire you greatly! B-but….I can’t say that I agree with the ruling of taking human souls.”

Undyne blinks, clearly unprepared for this, her brow twitching.

“P-Papyrus-”

“It’s just not right! N-not unless they r-really are bad humans…..but everyone deserves a chance to be good! We should just capture humans, and get to know them – give them the chance to be friends! It….it doesn’t have to be….”

Papyrus seemed to falter a little, if his shoulders suddenly drooping was any kind of indication; Undyne expresses the same conflict that she had in the scanner room, her singular eye glaring at the floor as she contemplated, before fixing him with a fierce gaze.

“I….Papyrus, look. We need….no, we _might_ need a human soul to break the barrier. Maybe….maybe killing on sight isn’t cool, but making _friends?_ It’s just gonna hurt you more, you goof.”

“Killing for no reason isn’t right, Undyne. It just isn’t. Even if it is for the...greater good. It….such a thing isn’t worth it. The Royal Guard is a group of honourable monsters, after all!”

Her expression freezes in place, before she shuffles a little in place, her gaze travelling back down to the floor as she sighed.

“You’re too much of a good guy, Papyrus. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how good you are – sometimes, there are just bad people, and there’s nothing you can do.”

“Perhaps. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give them the chance to be good! Everyone deserves a chance to do a little better – even if they don’t think that they can! If someone believes in them, they might just change their ways.”

Undyne sighs, shaking her head in defeat, her shark-like grin in place – then all of a sudden she grabs Papyrus, shoving him under her arm and giving him a hard noogie.

“UNDYNE! PLEASE DO NOT NOOGIE THE SKELETON!”

“FUHUHU, SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT EARLIER, NERD!”

You wince at the excessive shouting and the frigid temperature emanating from Mettaton’s arms, despite the amount of time you’d spent in them; luckily, he seems to get the message, placing you back on the floor with a casual flip of his hair.

“You did marvellously, darling, even if it was truly terrifying – a live soap opera, if you will! I must say I’m inspired. Now, I’m going to go congratulate Alphys – she was brave, wasn’t she?”

“Yeah, she did great. I feel really….bad, putting her in that kind of position though...”

“Don’t be. Believe me, it’s done her situation the world of good.”

“….situation?”

Mettaton simply wiggles his eyebrows excessively in reply, before swaggering over to Alphys, who smiles nervously. Since Undyne and Papyrus were apparently still more than occupied (if the high-volume shouting was any indication), you scan around desperately for Sans, the one who you actually found yourself worrying about the most; before you finally spot him standing a little ways away, watching everyone with an expression you couldn’t quite distinguish. His eye-lights eventually land on you, but his expression seems almost cold as he locked onto your gaze; you shudder as a strange, aching feeling seems to echo from your soul and through your limbs, and you look down at your chest in confusion and worry, wondering if all the strain had somehow damaged it – it had looked fine earlier, but you supposed you could always do a scan later on just to be sure.

Shaking yourself out of your worried thoughts, you warily approach your best friend, your eyes cautious as he continued to stare at you coldly, until finally you stood before him. He says nothing for a few moment, merely staring at you as you stared at him, an obvious, increasing frown in place, adding to the bitter tension his gaze held. But when he did speak at last, it was in a tone far deeper than you’d ever heard from him.

“Don’t you _ever_ do something like that again.”

You find yourself frowning right back at him now, reflexively crossing your arms over your chest as your soul lurched in your chest once more.

“...I’m sorry. But what else could I do? Undyne’s the kind of person who clearly prefers actions over words – she had to see it for herself, Sans.”

“Maybe. But you didn’t have to offer your soul up to her on a platter, either.”

You huff with slight irritation, your mood already drawn taught after everything – his condescending tone was not helping, nor was his accusing gaze.

“It all worked out, right? I know, it was pretty stupid, but-”

“You’re right, it _really_ was. Y/n, do you have any _idea_ what it would have done to everyone if you didn’t come out of there alive?”

You looked away, biting your lips and clutching your arms around yourself a little tighter.

“...of course I do. It was all I was thinking of in there. But I-”

“ _No_. No, you don’t.”

Your head snapped back to glare at him incredulously, your rage bubbling to the surface.

“Don’t you freakin’ _dare_ say that I don’t care, Sans.”

“….I know that you care, y/n. But that’s not the point. I-”

You grind your teeth, stepping a little closer, effectively putting you nose to non-existent nose with the skeleton monster.

“Sans, if you think for a second that I did not spend _every_ damn moment thinking about how fucking destroyed everyone would be, then you’re _wrong_. Toriel, Papyrus, Grillby, Mettaton...everyone…. _you_. I….I didn’t want to hurt you, or disappoint you – I know that you trusted me, and if it’d gone wrong….”

You swallow, suddenly painfully aware that as your voice had risen, so had the rest of the noise in the room lowered – now it wasn’t just Sans listening intently to your words.

“I care about all of you, so much. And I’m sorry, ok? I’m sorry. But I had to do it. You know that I had to.”

Sans rolled his eye-lights slightly, tutting under his breath, his expression stormy.

“You didn’t have to be so damn dangerous with it, y/n. We could have made sure that-”

“No. No matter what we did, Sans, it was going to be dangerous.”

“...you didn’t have to be so _fucking stupid_ about it!”

You huff, finally stepping away from him, bitter tears starting to gather in the corners of your eyes; you were tired, stressed, angry, and your soul was shivering inside you.

 

You were _done._

 

“….I think I’m gonna head home.”

You swiftly turn around on your heel, plastering on a false grin for the benefit of your anxiously watching friends and a painfully guilty Undyne.

“Uh, I’ll see you all later, ok? I just….I just need a break.”

And with that, you quickly make your way out, catching Sans’ eye-lights just before you exited, his expression weighing heavily on your mind as you speed-walked.

 

He looked heartbreakingly regretful.

 

~

 

You mutter angrily under your breath to yourself as you walk down the path, your sweat more or less running in rivulets down your back, despite your choice of donning a fairly thin t-shirt for the day – it seemed that if you were to thoroughly explore Hotland at some point, it would require something more along the lines of a vest at the most.

You thoughts meanwhile run wild, you heart racing with them.

 

_What the hell was I thinking, just leaving like that? Paps is probably worried….and Alphys….hell, Mettaton too, probably._

 

Then you regretfully think back to the argument with Sans; you groan miserably, tripping a little over your feet as you make your way down the path that would eventually lead to Riverperson’s ferry.

 

_Was I right to be angry? No, I don’t think that I was. I mean….he was just worried. Really worried. People can get angry when they’re like that, it’s completely understandable, - I mean, he probably thought that I was going to die. I just….I just don’t know what to do._

 

You whimper softly, rubbing at your eyes in frustration as tears started to appear. You didn’t want to argue with Sans – but you also didn’t want to agree with him. True, it was a stupid, reckless move; but was there a better option at the time? Undyne was clearly a woman of action – she had needed to see how everyone reacted to you, and how you yourself reacted to her threats. If you’d just run away….you had a feeling that she would have chased you down and killed you without mercy.

You shuddered a little at that particular thought. You couldn’t quite determine at this point what you thought of the mighty fish woman – but you could tell that she was a good person; headstrong maybe, but definitely not bad. But she was also under orders to take human souls; you were more than aware that one small slip up regarding your soul would result in your death, even with taking your friend’s wishes into account – she was loyal to the crown, that conversation between her and Papyrus more than proved that.

You wondered if befriending Undyne would help your situation at all; you did genuinely want to be friends with her, after all – she seemed like she’d be a fun person to hang out with, given her almost reckless nature.

You know. As long as she wasn’t trying to kill you.

You sigh, approaching the dock area, angrily wiping sweat from your brow as you waited for the ferry to eventually pull up. The quiet waiting was thoroughly disrupted however as you jolt in surprise as a familiar buzzing started up in your pocket; you were steadily receiving text after text. You groan, making no move to take the device out – you really weren’t in the correct mood to answer texts at present; that said, you would have to take your phone out at some point to change into your coat and boots when you eventually approached Snowdin, so you supposed that would be the time to gather up the nerve to check your mystery texts.

You angrily scrubbed at your eyes once more as tears threatened to spill over; at this point you didn’t know if it was due to the argument or your period being on the horizon – probably a horrific combination of both.

You brighten a little, however, as you noticed the ferry finally arriving – even if you were still a little wary of Riverperson, it meant that you’d be home soon, and there was nothing you honestly wanted more.

The ferry bumped up against the dock, Riverperson cocking their head inquisitively at you (or at least, you assumed that it was their head – you honestly couldn’t tell, given how dark their general ‘face’ area was).

“ _Tra la la_. Need a ride?”

“Yes….thank you.”

You carefully step into the boat, your muscles freezing up a little in reflex as it rocked under your weight; but soon, you were seated fairly comfortably. Riverperson looked back at you for a fraction of a second, before pushing away from the dock, the boat soon moving at the usual crazy pace that you’d never expect from a gondola.

You gently run your fingers through the water for a moment, allowing yourself to enjoy the cooling sensation, then with a begrudging sigh, you finally take out your phone; before your eyes widened a little at the number of unanswered texts you had – a grand total of 11.

You grumble under your breath, opening up the first.

 

MewMewCutie: _Oh, y/n, I’m so so sorry :( I hope that you’re ok?_

 

MewMewCutie: _I know that it’s a lot for one day. I’m here if you ever need to talk, ok? x_

 

You sigh, smiling sadly; you really didn’t deserve her.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _I’m ok. Well, I will be. And I’ll probably chat to you later – just need some time. Thank you for today x_

 

You nod silently to yourself; that would do, for now; you couldn’t summon the energy for more. You didn’t want her to be worried about you, even though you knew that she would be – but at least she now knew that you were alive and kicking, even if you weren’t in the mood to talk as of yet. You move onto the message.

 

MTTNeo: _Darling, you were so brave today. I’m ever so proud! I don’t blame you for needing a break – you more than deserve it. Don’t you worry – I’ll be kicking a certain skeleton in your absence. X_

 

You let out an attractive snort at that – the image was more than enough to cheer you up a little, even if Sans didn’t quite deserve it.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Heh, as much as I_ _appreciate_ _the offer, I don’t think that he needs it. Thank you, though….I’ll see you later. X_

 

He really had improved so much since that talk you’d had with him, and the sleepover – now that you had gotten to know him properly, you could appreciate that he was actually a very kind soul, despite his somewhat dramatic quirks. You scroll over to the next texts, frowning a little when you didn’t immediately recognise the sender; but when you scanned over the words, you finally did, you eyes widening in surprise.

 

StrongFish91: _Why did you_ _just up and_ _leave, you utter nerd?!_

 

StrongFish91: _I mean….I get why. I just wanted to say sorry. I know that it was a lot to deal with….but you’re strong, you loser! Anyway, come over to my house sometime and we’ll talk for real. I want to get to know you properly._

 

You sniffle a little, not quite expecting this result; you’d half expected for Undyne to ignore you with disdain – after all, it wasn’t exactly a secret that she didn’t trust humans, and you couldn’t blame her, given her past.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Thanks – that would be nice. I want to get to know you, too._

 

You sigh wearily as you scroll to the next lot of texts, seeing that they were from Papyrus.

 

CoolSkeleton95: _I hope that you’re ok, sister._

 

CoolSkeleton95: _My brother can do this sometimes – I’m so sorry that you’re upset. I wish that I could make it better. I promise to make you the best spaghetti when I’m home – I’m sure that it will cheer you up!_

 

CoolSkeleton95: _In the meantime, I’ll be having a stern talk with Sans – in fact, at the moment, we’re all having a talk. Don’t worry – everything’s ok! I’m sending you a pat over this convenient texting system. *pat pat_

 

CoolSkeleton95:  _….though I must say that I prefer phone calls. I can give vocal pats over them!_

 

You chuckle, smiling despite everything the day had brought.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Thank you, Paps. I’m sending you pats back! *pat pat. I’m ok – and I’ll see you at home. I just needed a break, don’t worry._

 

Your slightly improved mood darkens however, when you see that the next group of texts are from Sans. You pointedly decide to ignore them for now – you knew that it was a slightly immature choice, but you really didn’t want to talk with him at the moment, even if it was just over text. You instead decide to take your coat and boots out of your phone’s storage box, toeing off your sneakers and putting them safely into your phone as you swapped over footwear. At this point, you had reached what you assumed was the stretch of river that ran near Waterfall, given the far more pleasant temperature – you drape your coat over your lap, deciding to put it on the second you felt the temperature drop.

“ _Tra la la_. Remember to take a break every so often….”

You look up in surprise as the Riverperson speaks, not expecting the oddly appropriate, kind words.

“Uh...thank you. I will.”

You hear something that sounded shockingly similar to a ghostly chuckle, and can’t help but shiver in response. But still, it was intriguing that Riverperson had actually said something that made sense; you’d remembered Sans saying that it was hard to get anything out of them that wasn’t random advice or silly phrases.

“Hey, Riverperson…..what’s your real name?”

“ _Tra la la_ ….what’s my name?….it doesn’t really matter.”

You frowned, letting out a gentle huff.

“Well, sure it does! I’d love to know your name – it seems silly just calling you ‘Riverperson’.”

You receive another ghostly chuckle for your efforts.

“ _Tra la la_ ….very well. My true name is Charon. But you didn’t hear it from me.”

You gasped, immediately recognising the name.

“….Charon? Like….like the ferryman of the _dead_ from Greek mythology?!”

Another chuckle is all you receive, which you take as a positive answer; you lean back in your seat, eyes wide, jaw slack.

“...wow. That’s….that’s certainly something.”

“….y/n.”

Your eyes widen a fraction more at being directly addressed, and without song.

“...yes?”

Riverperson, or rather, Charon had turned to face you, the deep black void of their hood pinning you to the spot as they clearly stared at you.

“... _tra la la._ Research the Angel. _Tra la la_.”

“….the….Angel?”

Charon simply nods, still staring at you. You frown in uncomfortable confusion, reflexively leaning back.

“Um….ok, I will.”

“And….”

Charon leans a little closer to you, and you edge back in your seat all the more.

“ _Tra la la_. Beware the man who speaks in hands.”

Charon’s voice had dropped an octave when they uttered that sentence, and you shivered, gulping nervously, sweat gathering on your brow, despite the steadily dropping temperature.

“...what?”

Charon chuckles once more, the deep ghostly sound echoing across the water.

 

“ _Tra la la_. Beware the man who came from the other world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so, possible angry fish friend. That's good...right?  
>  Oh, by the way! I now have a discord server set up for DEISY, and for any other work I do! So, uh, if you want to ask particular questions, or just discuss the story...or hell, just hang out in general amongst other things, shoot me a message and I'll give you a link (as they expire within 24 hours and there's no point in chucking it here, haha).
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/


	49. Mother Knows Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we make an important phone call...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!......
> 
> ....well, not this week. As we're going to have another chapter tomorrow, thanks to hitting over 10,000 hits on Wattpad! Yay! (again, you guys are crazy, and I love you >.<)

The rest of your journey with Charon is deathly quiet – mostly due to you being frozen with absolute shock, and it seemed that Charon knew it, choosing to stay quiet for your mental benefit.

Their words seemed to resonate within you on some strange level. The man who speaks in hands, who comes from another world….you could only think of one ‘other world’, and that was the Void – but you’d never met a man who spoke in hands, whatever that meant. As a matter of fact, you’d only ever met Gaster there, and he certainly wasn’t someone to be wary of….nor did he speak in hands. Sign language perhaps?

That said, he had mentioned that there were other beings in the Void – and they were something to be feared. Perhaps there was another being in the depths that was far more dangerous (though you had no idea why the method in which that being spoke would be all that important, in the grand scheme of things).

But then of course, you had to question why and how Charon knew about the Void in the first place, if that was what they were talking about….but considering it was highly possible they’d simply walked out of ancient mythology and into reality, it only made sense that their knowledge would be endlessly vast (you could only imagine what they’d seen in their lifetime).

A shiver ran up your spine, causing you to quickly pull on the material of your coat – the temperature had started to drop, signalling your arrival into Snowdin; though you suspected that your shivering had something to do with your slightly terrifying thoughts as well.

The boat eventually drew up to the familiar bank of the river, slowly coming to a standstill. You shakily stand up, wobbling your way out onto to steady ground, before turning to look up at the chilling figure that was Charon.

“Um….thank you very much. For your…. _advice_ , and the ride, I mean.”

Charon let out another ghostly chuckle, bowing their head slightly at your apparently amusing words.

“ _Tra la la_ ….you are most welcome. Until next time, y/n.”

With that, they pushed their boat away from the bank with an otherworldly grace, speeding away on the frigid waters. You shuddered reflexively, drawing your coat up around your frame a little more, sorely regretting not bringing your borrowed gloves with you on this particular trip – until you remembered that Sans had given them to you, leaving an oddly bitter taste in your mouth.

You start to trudge your way home with an all but defeated sigh, inwardly wondering what you could do to lift your mood – you didn’t want to upset Papyrus (any more than you already had, of course) when he got home, after all.

Suddenly, inspiration struck you; there was only one person you truly wanted to talk with at the present moment. You hastily dug your phone out of your pocket, puffing out a breath as you did so, absent-mindedly watching the resulting cloud float up as you dialled. Luckily, they picked up on the first few rings.

“Hello, my child! What a lovely surprise – how are you?”

“….mum, I’m sorry. I’m actually….kind of sad at the moment.”

“Oh my – whatever for? What’s happened?”

You sniff despite yourself, scrubbing at your eyes to shove back the threatening tears as you sped walked in the direction of home.

“I….I had an argument with Sans, and there was a lot of other dramas….I’m just….I’m just really tired at the moment, heh.”

“Oh dear….my dear y/n, do not fret, I’m sure that it will all work out for the best. I am here for you, and no matter what happens, I will always be here.”

You chuckle, smiling despite your awful mood, eyes still slightly blurred from tears.

“Thank you, Tori. I’m...always here for you, too.”

“I know you are, my child. I love you!”

“...I love you too. How are you, anyway?”

“I am quite well, I have gathered the vegetables for today, oh, and I read a lovely book earlier on – y/n, I’m sorry for the strange question, but…..when is your next….heat?”

You sputter out a surprised giggle, tears finally fading as the comedic nature of the situation hits you; Toriel had always had an issue about this ‘heat’ thing, and it never failed to amuse you. What she actually meant was your period – and embarrassingly, she had always insisted on locking you up for the week that you had it. You understood the mechanics behind animal heats, after all – but you were _human_.

“It’s pretty soon; should have it in around two days. It’s fine – don’t worry, I’ll make sure I don’t make a habit of leaving the house, heh.”

“Oh dear….no, my child….ah….may I request you coming here for the week? Not only for your heat, mind you – it may be just the break that you need at the moment. And I imagine it will be good for Sans, too – it will allow him to think over what was said.”

“I….you know, that’s actually not a bad idea at all. I’ll….I’ll just go pack my things for the week, ok? I should be with you in a couple of hours.”

“I look forward to it – it will be a lovely time! We’ll be able to finally catch up on that book series, and I’ll have a butterscotch-cinnamon pie waiting for you.”

You grin; if anything was going to properly cheer you up, it would be Toriel’s cooking.

“I’ll see you soon, Tori.”

“Until then, my child!”

You hand up, sliding your phone back into your pocket, and sighing with a slightly guilty feeling. You were more than aware that you were essentially being completely selfish, literally running away from your problems, but you agreed with her about needing a break from it all – though not the whole ‘heat’ thing, obviously. But as much as you’d tried to explain the mechanics to her, she was having none of it; in fact, she’d been flabbergasted at the idea of human females just going about their day-to-day activities in ‘ _such a state_ ’ - which had only added to your amusement, of course (you’d been left laughing for hours, much to her chagrin). After all, the pain of it wasn’t too bad of a thing (unless you counted the general gross, sick feeling that came with it) – you were more than used to it.

Huffing out another heavy breath, you prepare to steel yourself for more drama as you open the front door to your home; but come up short upon noticing that the house was still very much empty and still.

For a moment, you simply freeze in surprise, not expecting them to still be at the lab; before quickly jumping into action, gathering all that you needed for you impromptu ‘holiday’ as swiftly as you could – clothes (as well as spares), your wash things, painkillers and sanitary towels. You chuckle to yourself slightly; this had to be the first time in your life you’d been required to leave home for such a thing, but hell, you needed this break. As quickly as you’d entered the house, you were out into the cold again, you phone packed with what you required; you don’t look back, speeding through Snowdin as fast as your feet would carry you – you knew the journey to the Ruins wasn’t exactly a short one.

You move into a run when you reach the bridge of death, screeching loudly as it rocked with the movement – but you knew it was safe, considering the amount of times Papyrus had run across it, and given his older brother’s weight, you knew it was more than sturdy, even if it did sway and creak like a ship in a storm.

Soon, you were across; you gasped out heavy, slightly panicked breaths, curling in on yourself as you fought for oxygen, inwardly congratulating yourself for making it across the bridge from hell in record timing.

After your minute rest, you swiftly continued on your way down the snowy paths, taking out your phone to message Papyrus as you went.

 

OrionTheGreatHunter: _Hey, uh, I know this is sudden, but I’ve headed over to Toriel’s for the week – don’t worry, it’s nothing to do with you guys! She just has this thing about a certain human female thing I go through every-so-often - but I’ll be back soon. Phone or text me if you need anything, ok?_

 

You sigh a little, hoping that he wouldn’t be too worried or upset; you’d have to bring him a slice of cinnamon-butterscotch pie as an apology when you finally returned. Your fingers hover hesitantly over the texts from Sans, before you quickly shut off your phone and shove it into your pocket with a huff.

_It can wait. He can….wait._

You groan in general annoyance and frustration, fingernails digging into your palms; the pain was grounding, helping you keep a lid on your emotions – at least for now. You wanted some privacy first, and walking down the snowy forest path, while quiet, was certainly not private.

Every so often, you saw different monsters amongst the trees or walking past you towards Snowdin; all of them seemed to know you or know of you, however, waving at you with friendly smiles, or offering quick greetings (much preferred to battling, you had to admit).

The Snowdin dogs, of course, were not at their posts, given the hour – Grillby’s had already been open for the evening for quite some time now. You shivered inside your coat, drawing up the hood so your ears were somewhat saved from the already low temperatures dipping lower as the hour became later. You hurried your pace, inwardly hoping that it would warm you up some; and of course, to cut the journey a little shorter than the couple of hours that you’d originally estimated.

As you power-walked, you daydreamed of being able to conveniently sprint non-stop like Papyrus could. That said, it probably wouldn’t be quite as impressive, given the fact that his legs were quite a bit longer than yours could ever hope to be.

You entertained yourself in the small pleasures of watching your breath hover up into the atmosphere, and listening to the crunch of fresh snow underneath your feet – the nostalgia of when you first walked out of the Ruins was staggering. You remembered meeting the brothers, and the Snowdin dogs, and the wonder you felt at discovering forests and snow could exist in the Underground – it was kind of incredible what had happened since then, and how your relationships had progressed.

Time was a strange thing.

You blinked, realising that you were nearing Sans’ post, signalling that you were thankfully quite close to the doors to the Ruins; you puff a little more as you start to jog through the snow, eager to get warm and dig into the slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie that had your name on it.

Before you knew it, you were at the doors and knocking eagerly, smiling excitedly at the prospect of hugging Toriel after the trails of the day. You hear the steady thudding of her approaching footsteps, and her gentle voice could be heard giggling from the other side of the door.

“Who’s there?”

… _.really?_

You sigh, thinking on the spot for a moment, stomping your feet in an effort to keep warm.

“Boo.”

“Boo who?”

“No need to cry, it was only a joke.”

She giggles a little louder, starting to open up the doors; as soon as there was a space large enough for you to slip through, you do – she squeaks in surprise at your sudden entrance as you shudder happily at the already improved temperature.

“Sorry! It’s pretty cold out there.”

“Oh dear, yes, of course – I often forget Snowdin’s strange temperatures.”

“Honestly, I would say Hotland’s worse, but never mind.”

You quickly hug her, and she eagerly hugs you back with a chuckle as she closes the door.

“Hello, my child. How are you feeling?”

She pulls back a little, examining your face carefully.

“….still a little sad, I see.”

You blink, not realising that your emotions were showing that clearly on your face.

“I’m ok. Well, alright, not completely ok, but better than I was – phoning you helped a lot.”

She smiled at that, albeit a little sadly, softly patting your head before starting to make her way down the hallway leading to her home as you follow.

Before you know it, you’re sat at the table, polishing off a dinner of hearty vegetable soup and warm, fresh bread, eagerly looking forward to your promised slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

“My child...”

You look up, humming in answer, swallowing your last mouthful.

“….would you mind telling me a little more about the events of today? As long as it doesn’t upset you too much, of course.”

You heave out a sigh, knowing full well that this was bound to come up sooner or later.

“No, I don’t mind. Um….well, first thing first, we finally found out something about my soul. Or at least, we think that we have? Not 100% sure yet, still need to do more tests.”

“Still, that is quite the news! You must be pleased?”

“Um….well, I don’t know what to think about it at the moment, really. See, uh….apparently, I can sense magic. And...they think that I have the potential to use it? I mean, I don’t think that I can…..surely I would have noticed something like that by now, right?”

She studies your face for a moment, her expression slightly odd – almost as if she were looking for something, though you weren’t quite sure what.

“….not always, my child. I remember the mages on the surface – some of their talents emerged very late in life, far later than you. Of course, if they had magic potential, they would always be able to sense it – that was the only obvious sign that they were mages. Well, at least before anything concrete emerged, of course.”

You’re instantly fascinated, having not heard much about mages – apart from….

“Wait a second….didn’t you say that mages had….an _extremely_ long lifespan? As in...as long as monsters?”

“It is dependant on how powerful the magic concentration is within the mage, but generally, yes, they do.”

You sit back in your chair a little, eyes wide; you already knew your magic concentration was….unusually high, and if you were in fact a mage....

“I….I don’t really know how to feel about that.”

“My child, don’t forget – you said that you weren’t quite sure of the results yet, correct? Do not think and worry over something that you may not need to stress yourself out over. As it is, you’re about to go through your heat, which is stressful enough.”

She pats your head, and you start to giggle despite yourself at her words; she instantly frowns, already quite familiar with your thoughts on the subject.

“I will never understand why you find the subject of heats so amusing! It’s quite the serious thing, y/n.”

You only giggle louder, covering your mouth to hide your snorts; she promptly rolls her eyes, a slight smile playing across her lips in a clear response to your laughter.

“I’m sorry – it’s just….heh….it’s not like that for humans, I keep telling you!”

She pauses for a moment, before clearly smirking at your words, standing up with the empty bowls.

“Ah, but for mages, it’s quite a different story.”

She starts to walk away from the table smugly, her words only sinking in as she enters the kitchen – at which point you all but leap from your chair, hastily making your way after her.

“Wait wait wait, Tori, _what?!_ ”

She slowly looks up, that smug smirk still playing on her lips as she cuts generous slices of pie, serving it up with exaggerate slowness, before walking past you with the plates back to the table, where she turns to you teasingly.

“Y/n, are you not coming to the table?”

You grumble impatiently, but do as she wishes, sitting down as she slides over your plate to you, her eyes glimmering with mirth – it was quite the perfect revenge you supposed, considering the amount of times you’d teased her about this ‘heats’ business.

“Ok, but _seriously?!_ ”

“Oh yes – I assume you’re now interested in hearing more about this subject?”

You grumble louder, angrily spearing your pie hard with a fork; Toriel giggled in response.

“Well now….who would have thought I would be having this particular talk with my daughter at her age?”

You blush furiously, eating a chunk of pie and pointing your fork at Toriel in mock threat, which only makes her laugh all the more as she holds up her paws in defence.

“Alright, alright, I shall stop teasing you. A heat for a mage is just the same as it is for a monster – it is a time where the body is calling out to, ah…..mate. As I’m sure you know.”

“Sounds about the same to a ‘period’ thus far, more or less.”

She blushes herself at this, mock-frowning at your smug sarcasm.

“Then I imagine that is where the similarities end for a humans, I assume. For you see, it is also a time where a monster….or mage, for your potential case – releases excess magic which acts like a beacon for the opposite sex.”

“So like….amped up pheromones?”

She cocks her head a little at this, not understanding the statement.

“Ah, sorry – it’s kind of like a...scent that animals let off. Well, I mean, humans do too, but it’s, uh, not as powerful.”

“I see – well, yes then, exactly like that. In fact, it does often translate as a ‘scent’ more often than not. Most can ignore the urges, unless it’s a soul-mate bond, of course, but it’s still a good idea to remain inside as a precaution – not only for the obvious reasons, but also due to the fact that magic and emotions can be a little….volatile, during such times.”

“How is it different for soulmates? I mean, is it just more...powerful, or something?”

“Something like that, I suppose. It becomes far more prevalent, in any case.”

“Oh, ok….well, it makes a little more sense now, I’ve got to say. So this is the norm for female monsters, then? Yeesh.”

She chuckles, delicately eating another chunk of pie.

“Oh no, my child – it’s something that happens for both genders.”

You stare open-mouthed for a moment, wholly forgetting about the small chunk of pie left on your plate that was screaming your name.

“Wait, seriously? Male monsters get this too?”

“They do indeed. Not quite as often as females, but yes. Perhaps instead of the usual once a month, it is more often that not more along the lines of once or twice a year – though with some males they do not experience it all until they meet their potential….partner. Quite the shock, I imagine.”

You quickly scoop up your final bite to distract yourself, you eyes still wide with surprise at the concept.

“Huh. Well. Probably a good thing I’m here for the week, it seems. Really wouldn’t want to deal with any more drama, thank you very much.”

She chuckles at that, ruffling your hair fondly as she stood up with the now empty plates.

“Mothers always seem to know best, don’t they?”

She walks away smugly once more, and you do nothing to stifle your laughter as she does so.

 

~

 

The rest of the evening is quiet, spent by the warmth of the fire reading with Toriel, an activity you’d sorely missed, despite your almost daily reading sessions with Sans; you’d received a text back from Papyrus which was filled with his usual positivity, wishing you a good time on your ‘holiday’, and promising the best spaghetti you’d ever taste for when you came back.

You’d still ignored Sans’ texts, waiting for when you were alone – at least then you’d be able to lay in the dark, wrapped up in your bed and listen to music if you got too stressed out; it was always how you coped with such things, when you were alone.

“My child? Are you quite alright?”

You blink, realising that you’d been staring blankly at the wall for quite some time as you thought.

“Oh, yeah, sorry – just….thinking things over.”

She gives you a warm, comforting smile, placing her soft paw over your hand.

“You know, you never did finish explaining what happened earlier.”

You wince slightly, as you’d been hoping she wouldn’t have noticed that – you’d forgotten that nothing made it’s way past her.

“Right…..well, uh, there’s also some bad…..but also good news? Bad and good at the same time, I guess.”

She frowns, her confusion clear on her face, so you decide to come straight out with it.

“...the head of the Royal Guard found out about me. And came to the lab to find me.”

Toriel starts to instantly look panicked, but you waved your hands in comforting motions.

“It’s ok! Uh. We kind of convinced her not to hurt me – Undyne’s actually pretty nice, and, uh…..sorry about the whole wanting to ‘take my soul thing’, it seems. So it worked out for the best, in that respect.”

Toriel covered where her soul lay, her eyes wide.

“My child, please refrain from scaring me like that!”

“...I’m sorry.”

She sighs in a slightly exasperated tone, shaking her head, which you take as indication for you to carry on.

“And, well….that’s when me and Sans had our argument. He was….really worried, basically. I mean, I know why he was angry with me-”

“Angry with you, my child?”

“Uh...”

You let out a nervous laugh, purposely looking away from her as you continued.

“I may or may not have….taken a risk with Undyne that I probably shouldn’t have? But at the time, I didn’t see any other solution that would work…..I mean, I still don’t, to be honest. Nothing that would have worked out as well as it did work out, anyway.”

“...and what was this risk?”

“Um….I showed her my soul. So that she’d understand that it was something….unusual. Dr. Alphys said that due to the strange nature of it, we might be able to break the barrier without….you know. But it was still….yeah.”

You sighed, sagging in your seat a little.

“Well….I can certainly see why he was worried.”

“….yeah. I think with the stress of everything, we both just kind of broke under the pressure. He got mad, I got mad – but when he said it was ‘stupid’ I was just kind of done, so I walked away. I know, not my best hour, but I was just….so _tired_.”

You jump slightly as she pats your hands, and you look up in surprise to see that she isn’t angry with you at all, which is what you’d half expected.

“Understandable, my child. We all have our breaking points, after all – and it sounds as if you had more than exceeded yours.”

She frowns, her expression slightly stormy.

“And he certainly should have never called you stupid.”

You sigh, patting her hands back, before she suddenly pulled you up from your seat, tugging you into a gentle hug.

“Do not fret – I’m sure that it will all work out with Sans. As I said before, he probably just needs to think it over and calm down, as you had.”

“….I think he might have regretted it instantly, to be honest. He looked so sad...”

She pulls away from you a little, her expression comforting.

“Has he messaged you at all? I do not understand the texting system well, but...”

“...yeah, he has. But I’ve not looked at them yet. I….didn’t feel ready to, I guess.”

She sighs, pressing a paw to your cheek.

“Well, my child, I advise that you do – I imagine that he’s quite worried. Still, I imagine that you’ll want to read in private, so what do you say about us calling it a night?”

You smile with a short nod; truthfully, you could already feel the tiredness leaking into your bones, but it really was for the best to get everything ironed out – well, as much as you could, anyway.

And so, you both make your way out of the living room, going through the old nightly routine that you’d set up all that time ago; taking turns to wash and change in the bathroom, and finishing off the remaining washing up in the kitchen. Before long, you were stood in the hallway which lead to the bedrooms – Toriel softly kissed the top of your head and bid you goodnight as you headed into your old room.

You softly click the door behind you as you enter; sitting on the bed, you let out a shaky sigh, your fingers nervously hovering over the unopened text messages.

 

Before you hesitantly clicked on the first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S GETTIN' HOT IN HERE, SO TAKE OFF ALL YOUR-  
> (I'm so sorry.)  
> Anyway! As I mentioned, we're going to have another chapter tomorrow! :D So uh, you won't have to wait too long for Sans' texts ;p Thank you again for reading this story, you guys - it means more to me than you know T-T
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	50. Is it hot in here, or is it just me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally read those texts....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

Bonehead: _I’m_ _so_ _sorry, y/n. Can we talk?_

 

Bonehead: _….ok, I kinda expected you to ignore that. When you’re ready, please can we talk?_

 

Bonehead: _Please, y/n. I’m sorry. Please_ _come back._

 

Bonehead: _Just….call me when you can, ok?_

 

You groaned, long and loud, placing your head in your hands, and abandoning your phone for the moment in favour of digging your fingernails into your scalp.

The messages certainly weren’t what you’d been expecting – if anything, you’d been expecting a muted version of the argument with maybe the vaguest of apologies, not outright begging.

 

It made you feel like the worst person ever.

 

You huffed, rocking your body a little as you panicked on the inside over what you should do. Text back? Ignoring him was _completely_ out of the question, even if you didn’t have the faintest idea of what you’d put in a text message to get your feelings across – no, it was simply too impersonal. Or you could simply….do as he asked.

Phone him.

Why was that thought so scary?

You grit your teeth, promptly sitting up and snatching up your phone. This was Sans, for fuck sake. _Sans._ The guy was your best friend and more – you confidant, your pun buddy, your temporary bed partner. Even if you’d argued with him, you still knew that you could trust him with anything – there was nothing to fear in regards to him.

No, if anything, you were afraid of _yourself_ , of saying something wrong. You didn’t want to lose him. The very concept of the idea wrapped tight around your soul, threatening to fracture it further. You fiercely shook yourself, looking down at the phone in your hands, and quickly dialling his number before your thoughts could disable you further.

The dialling tone seemed to go on endlessly; you’re about to give up hope before your breath hitches in your throat as he picks up. Neither one of you answer however, sitting in awkward silence, only broken by the sounds of slightly panicked breathing (though from which exact party, you couldn’t be sure). Suddenly, you both speak at once.

“Y/n-”

“Sans, I-”

There’s another beat of silence before you both burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of it – but eventually the almost manic laughter subsides, leaving yet another stretch of awkward silence; before Sans speaks up, his deep voice cracking in desperate hesitance.

“Y/n….are you ok?”

You blink, really not expecting the question.

“….yeah. Are you?”

A slightly frantic chuckle is your answer.

“...I’m sorry Sans.”

He doesn’t answer.

“I’m sorry. I know that you were worried about me, and I….I didn’t know what else to do.”

There’s still silence on the other end of the line, so you continue, gulping nervously.

“I didn’t mean to snap at you, and I….I’m sorry that I just stormed out. Heh, another stupid move, huh?”

Another beat of silence passes, and you worry that he’d simply abandoned the phone. You’re about to give up and simply say goodbye when his voice makes a sudden reappearance.

“….where are you right now?”

“...uh, I’m at Toriel’s? Did Pap not tell you?”

“…..he did. I just…..do you think it would be ok for me to come over, just for bit? I just….I want to talk to you face to face.”

You gulp nervously, the coward in you not liking the sound of that one bit.

“I….well, Tori did say that I’m not allowed to go out for a week, but I suppose it’s not here yet, so-”

“Wait, what?”

“Oh, uh….I’m guessing you know what a heat is?”

There’s another long stretch of silence before Sans suddenly groans, making you flinch in surprise.

“...yeah, I do. Why?”

“Well, uh…. _you know_.”

“I really don’t.”

You frowned, sensing he was teasing you.

“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“Say what?”

“….you’re such an arse. This is supposed to be a serious phone call!”

“Oh believe me, this is quite serious.”

Your eyes widen and you gulp in reflex, as Sans’ voice had suddenly seemed to drop an octave as he spoke – before you shook yourself, angrily grumbling at this new tactic of teasing.

“….you know what, you wanna talk about it? Come over. My room’s the first door down the hallway.”

There’s another beat of silence on the other end of the line, and you smile smugly – served him right for teasing you with his stupid deep voice.

“….ok, uh, teasing aside, you’re not….you know…?”

You giggle victoriously, unable to hold it in; he lets out an indignant huff in response.

“Oh man. Uh, no, I’ve not started yet, and even if I had, I don’t think….urgh. I don’t know. Actually, I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want to have this particular conversation with you. But yeah, it’s safe for you to come over.”

He chuckles, and you swear you can sense him rolling his eye-lights in response to your words.

“Ok then. See you in a sec.”

He promptly hangs up, and before long you heard the subtle scuffled sound of slippers upon flooring – a sound which was quickly approaching your room. You scoot yourself further back on the plush surface of the bed, resting your head on your knees and drawing up your legs; somehow, as silly as it was, it made you feel a little more secure, as you suspected that the following conversation was going to get heavy, and fast, despite the fairly light conversation you’d had on the phone.

The door opens up silently, revealing Sans as he shuffled in, awkward smile in place, but that wasn’t what you noticed first; he looked as if his nerves were completely shot, eye-lights slightly blurry with the strain – in short, he looked exactly how you felt.

He shuts the door behind him just as quietly, puffing out a nervous breath as he takes in your curled up figure.

“….hey there bud.”

“...hi.”

“….ok, look, I’m just going to get this out before everything else.”

You blink in surprise, watching as he quickly approached the bedside, looking down at you, his blurry eye-lights narrowed down in stress.

“...I am so sorry about what I said. I’m the one who’s stupid, not you. Look, I know, like you said, I was worried, it was a risk – but that doesn’t excuse me overlooking how scared you must have been, and it certainly doesn’t excuse me calling you names. I should have been there trusting you, like I said I would – and yeah, it was a risk that you shouldn’t have taken, but I agree with you….it was one of the few things that Undyne would’ve paid attention to. And it was the quickest way for her to see you as….well, _you_. I’m just….I’m so sorry, y/n.”

You stare at him in perfect silence for a moment, before allowing a small, shaky smile to form on your lips.

“Huh. Seems like we’re both as bad as each-other, huh? Best pun buddy match ever.”

He snorts out a laugh, his eye-lights blowing wide with mute surprise.

“...you’re not angry at me?”

“Well, I was – well, no, you know, that’s not true. I was just….tired, and frustrated, and because you were also tired and frustrated, it didn’t mix well. But I….I think it would take a lot for me to be really angry at you, truly. You’d have to be a _real_ non-existent ass.”

He lets out another attractive snort, plonking himself down next to you, before turning his body to look at you sheepishly, holding out his arms while you look on in confusion.

“I, uh….I’m offering up a hug of forgiveness/apology?”

You giggle, shuffling yourself over to hug him back.

“….you’re such an unbelievable marshmallow, Sans.”

Suddenly you’re both hugging each other hard, almost painfully tight, and you’re crying without even knowing why – all the fears, all the stress, it just all seemed to suddenly release as he hugged you close; you supposed that it was because you felt _safe_.

“It was so scary – she was really going to kill me, wasn’t she?”

“I can’t believe I got so close to losing you.”

“I don’t know what to think about this whole soul thing. I don’t know _what_ to think, Sans.”

“I was just sitting there, letting it happen – you might not have walked back out, and I should have been there, _I should have been_ -”

It seemed to suddenly register with you that he must have been crying just as much as you; the shoulder of your shirt was steadily becoming soaked with his tears as he held you close, fingers hooked into your hair, his head buried in the crook of your neck.

“No, don’t blame yourself; it was my fault, it would have been _my fault_ , not yours.”

“I should have been there for you more – you were scared. _You were scared_. You’re not supposed to get scared, not when I’m around.”

“You were scared too. Scared and worried. And it’s my fault….I’m so sorry, Sans.”

He lets out a choking sob, tugging your body flush against his.

“...y/n. I’m sorry too.”

You let out a slightly wild chuckle at this, rubbing your tear-stained face slightly on the surface of his hoodie.

“We’re such a pair, huh? Just an endless stream of apologies.”

“And forgiveness, don’t forget that – this is a forgiveness/apology hug, after all.”

You let out an unattractive snort at that, and he chuckles in response, the vibrations of his deep voice skittering across the surface of your skin.

“Ok then. I hereby forgive you completely, Sans Serif.”

He groans out a muffled chuckle.

“Really? Full names now?”

“Yup! This is a binding forgiveness/apology hug, after all.”

“I didn’t realise that was part of the rules with such a hug.”

“Think again!”

“Well, uh…..I don’t actually know your full name.”

You blink stupidly at his words for a moment, before letting out a slightly surprised laugh.

“Oh wow, that’s right – you know, I don’t think I’ve ever uttered my full name to anyone yet. So I guess you get that honour.”

You whisper out your full name to him as if telling him a deathly secret, and he whispers it back, his voice slightly awed.

“….y/n, I forgive you, completely.”

He sighs softly in a satisfied manner against the skin of your neck, and it suddenly occurred to you how intimately you were holding each-other; he was holding you flush against his chest, which meant that you were all but sitting in his lap, your fingers digging deep into the comforting material of his hoodie – he still had his head buried in the crook of your neck, his breath warm and sweet upon your skin, his left hand splayed out wide across your back, his right stroking your hair with an unspeakable softness.

You push out of the hug with a slight laugh, your cheeks heating up with a stupid amount of blush; for but a fraction of a second, you swore that you could see something like disappointment cross his features, before he relents, releasing you from his hold.

“Welp, seems like we’ve thoroughly forgiven each-other.”

He sniggers hard at how flustered you were, poking your cheek with a warm fondness in his eye-lights.

“Seems like we have. Now...”

His voice dropped down to a purr, his smile smug.

“...what was this confusion about heats, hmm?”

You narrow your eyes at him, becoming all the more flushed, promptly poking his cheek back in revenge.

“Stop teasing me! Look, I honestly thought that it was just a weird thing that Toriel freaked out about – how was I supposed to know it was a serious issue?!”

“Guessing humans don’t get it?”

“Well we….I mean….we get something akin to it, but not like….uh….it’s not something we need to remain indoors for, if that helps”

Sans chuckles, raising a slightly puzzled brow-bone at you.

“Not really, but I’m not gonna push it. So why the worry from you all of a sudden?”

“I had a chat with her about me possibly….being a mage. I mean, that’s right, isn’t it? That’s what you guys were suggesting, when you said that I might be able to use...magic?”

His teasing expression immediately turns a little more serious.

“Yeah, that’s what it would mean. You’re….scared?”

“...no, not exactly. I just….don’t know how I’d feel about it, I guess. I mean, it wouldn’t just mean that I would be able to throw fireballs, or whatever it is that mages do-”

Sans lets out a loud bark of laughter at this, covering his mouth to muffle the sound.

“-it would also mean that I would have….a much longer life-span than I ever thought that I would.”

Sans’ brow puckers, clear confusion crossing his features.

“Why would that be a bad thing?”

“I mean….it wouldn’t. I guess I just….accepted that I’d live to what, 90 at most, so to think that I would more than likely far exceed that…..it’s a little daunting.”

He hums slightly, his eye-lights bright and focused as they examined your face.

“….well, you’d get to spend a lot more time with m-everyone. That’s a good thing, right?”

You think on it for a moment, before a smile unknowingly spreads across your face as you registered that fact.

“….yeah. I guess that it wouldn’t be bad at all, then – just a little alien, unfamiliar, you know.”

“Yup, I guess….it would be. Plus, you know, you’d have to get used to the heats thing.”

You narrowed your eyes at him as his expression became teasing once more.

“You sir, are a complete and utter….”

You think for a moment, trying to come up with a suitable insult.

“….pillock.”

He starts to let out one of the loudest laughs you’d heard from him yet, before you quickly cover his mouth and you both dissolve into stupid giggles; you really didn’t want to think of what reaction Toriel would have upon discovering you’d essentially sneaked Sans into your room on the eve of your apparent ‘heat’.

When Sans had recovered enough to answer, his smile was practically gleeful, tears of laughter still remaining in the corners of his sockets.

“Stars, it somehow sounds so much better with you saying it.”

You flush, angrily poking his cheek as he sniggered at your reaction.

“Don’t make me break out the skeleton related slurs, buddy.”

He raises a brow bone, his face expressing immediate intrigue.

“Oh, do tell.”

“….you’re _skinny_.”

He lets out a mocked gasp, watching you with fond eye-lights as you burst into yet more giggles.

“….I’m really happy that we had this talk.”

You look up at him in surprise.

“I’m happy that you wanted to talk to me, I mean. I don’t know what I would’ve done if-”

“Sans, buddy, water under the bridge. Remember the binding forgiveness/apology hug? Don’t break the code.”

He chuckled at that, before nodding as solemnly as he could – which didn’t last long, considering your lack of control as you giggled at his display.

“Oh man – do you think this excessive laughter is hysterical?”

“Nah, perfectly healthy. ‘sides, they say laughter is the best medicine.”

“Not sure if that covers general insanity.”

He rolls his eye-lights, tutting under his breath and absent-mindedly tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear; your cheeks immediately heat up, which he noticed, if his slightly smug expression was anything to go by.

“She likes you, you know?”

You blink, still a little confused at how flustered that small action had made you, and at his words.

“Huh?”

“Undyne. She likes you. She thinks you’ve got spunk, which, believe me, is a hell of a compliment coming from her.”

“….I’ve got to admit, I kind of like her too. I mean, when you side-step the whole thing of her wanting to take my soul.”

Sans winces at that, his eye-lights narrowing down a little.

“….yeah. You know, I’ve _never_ seen her hesitate like that. It’s a big thing for her – humans, and getting to the surface, I mean.”

“I’m still….really surprised that she doesn’t hate me. You know, for being human.”

“I won’t lie and say she’s not still wary – but I’m sure that you can understand why. But she’s seen how everyone reacts around you, and she’s seen your soul….you can’t get much closer to seeing what kind of a person you are than that. How….how did she react?”

You shrink a little under his gaze, remembering her reaction at the time.

“….she pitied me, I think.”

Sans’ expression sky-dived at that, his eye-lights shrinking down to pin-pricks.

“...I’m sorry, y/n.”

You shrug off his words, plastering on a smile.

“Heh, don’t worry about it. It’s pretty common – I mean, with the few monsters that have seen my soul, anyway.”

“….I bet it’s beautiful.”

Your eyes widen slightly, the fake smile sliding off your face as he continued, his gaze possessing that intense quality that you’d noticed of late.

“Your soul. I bet it’s beautiful. And I….I would never pity you. You’re too strong for pity.”

You gulped, your face flushing as you found yourself unable to look away as he moved closer.

“...y/n. If your soul is as bright as you are, I’m sure that it would be a source of _jealously_ , not pity.”

He edged closer still, and before you were aware of what was happening, you were gathered up in his arms – he once again buried his head in the crook of your neck as he hugged you close, the tips of his fingers digging into your skin gently.

“...now this, this is a hug of _appreciation_. Y/n, I don’t think you realise how much I appreciate having you here – and remember what I told you? Doesn’t matter to me what state you think your soul’s in, doesn’t matter to me if you’re a mage or a human – it’s not going to change how I see you, ever.”

You find yourself inhaling sharply; his almost intoxicating scent seemed to be all around you, making you dizzy with the wonder of it. And you suddenly realised that you could ‘hear’ what you assumed was his magic again, or rather, what was _him_ – it hummed and growled pleasantly around you, begging you to respond, to hum back.

“...I….I…..”

He chuckles, his voice purring close to your ear, his exhales ruffling your hair.

“I mean it, y/n. With every inch of my soul.”

You could feel your limbs starting to tremor – he simply hugged you closer, and you recognised the sound of a contented purr deep in his chest; but you can’t bring yourself to tease him for it, as right now it made you feel strangely…. _happy._

“And now...”

He suddenly pushes away from you, holding you by the shoulders as you blinked dazedly up at him.

“...I think that it’s time to get some shut-eye, don’t you?”

You shake yourself internally to get a grip, licking your lips absent-mindedly as you processed what he’d just said.

“Yeah….yeah, I guess that’d be an idea.”

He chuckles, his eye-lights wider than you’d ever seen them as he stared down at you.

“Sans, are you….gonna be ok? I mean, I won’t see you for a week – you gonna sleep ok?”

He snorts at your wording, and you flush with a frown – after all, you knew that your sleep was going to suffer, so you didn’t want him to make light of the issue.

“Yeah, don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ll be ok. I’ll just annoy you with a million texts at 1am and trash your room.”

“Hey! I didn’t say you could sleep in my room!”

He winks, sticking out his tongue.

“You’re not going to be around to stop me, bud.”

And with that, he vanished, leaving you to clutch at thin air. Still feeling slightly out of it, you notice your phone light up with new message as it buzzed loudly.

 

Bonehead: _See you in a week ;D_ _Oh, and I guess that we owe each-other two questions for next Saturday. :p_

 

….this skeleton would be your undoing, you were sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....yeah, so that happened. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
>  I just wanted to thank everyone again for being so lovely and reading this - you're always so kind in the comments, too! :3 Well, uh....see you next Tuesday? :p
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	51. Hot Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we 'enjoy' our week away...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

_You open your eyes to the inky dark that was the Void with a soft sigh of relief – it had taken an ungodly amount of tossing and turning to finally get to sleep, and while the Void was never the most pleasant of places, it was certainly better than no rest at all._

“ _Y/n!”_

_You wince, hearing a worried edge to Gaster’s voice, knowing that you were quite possibly in for a lecture._

“ _Hey Dings.”_

_He frowns at your casual greeting, clearly not in the mood at the present moment in time._

“ _Y/n, you do realise that I was worried sick, watching your encounter with Undyne? What on earth were you thinking?”_

“ _...I’m sorry, Gaster. I mean it.”_

_He sighs, his anger deflating with your sincere apology as quickly as it had appeared – you could only imagine what his sons had got away with when he’d been around; inwardly, you wondered if you’d ever get the chance to meet them, and where in the Underground they were._

“ _I….are you quite alright, my dear? I saw how….shaken you were.”_

“ _I’m ok now, for the most part, I think. I mean….I can’t lie and say I’m not in shock over the fact I came pretty damn close to being killed today, but….oh man, that sounds even worse out loud...”_

_Gaster chuckled a little at that, though his expression showed very little humour._

“ _I’m just glad that you’re alright, y/n. I was….I can’t do anything from here, it’s so frustrating.”_

_You take in his shaking visage and his furrowed brow._

“ _I know….I’m sorry. Gaster, I promise you, I’m going to find out as much as I can about the Void, then bust you the fuck out of here.”_

_He frowns at your words, though his eye-lights are most definitely amused._

“ _Language.”_

“ _Oh right, sorry – I’ll bust you the….uh….expletive out of here.”_

_He lets out a bark of surprised laughter at that, shaking his head._

“ _Oh dear, you are quite the character, aren’t you?….still, y/n. While I...understand and appreciate it, I’m not sure that you’ll be able to.”_

“… _.are there not any possible tips you could give me? Things to research? Oh, wait!”_

_You gasp in realisation as you remember Charon’s warning._

“ _Gaster, did you see me talking to Charon? Oh wait, do you know them by that name? They also go by-”_

“ _Riverperson, yes, I know. And yes, I did see...”_

“… _.well? Did you have any idea what they could have meant?”_

_Gaster pauses for a moment, before sighing gently._

“ _I believe in regards to the Angel that would be best for you to research by yourself, as the information in books is far more accurate than what I could tell you – you’ll find them in plentiful amounts at the library. Or perhaps you could ask Queen Toriel, as she was present at the time…..in short, it’s a prophecy about the fate of the Underground.”_

“… _.oh right? Why would they want me to know that?”_

“ _I’m not entirely sure, though I do have my suspicions. Charon always was a strange creature with strange superstitions – I’m sure you’ll see what I mean when you read up on it.”_

“ _Got it. And uh….the warning? What did you think about that?”_

_Gaster actually rolled his eye-lights at that, sighing heavily._

“… _.I believe that they were talking about me, somehow knowing that I was listening.”_

“… _.wait. Are you telling me that….they know that you’re here?”_

“ _Honestly? I haven’t the faintest idea. Charon experienced…..something terrible in the war that lead to us being trapped Underground. After that, they were never quite the same – speaking in riddles and throwing out the odd piece of helpful advice. Occasionally, they would have moments of clarity, only to relapse at a later date – the conversation they had with you is the closest Charon’s come to true sanity for….a long time.”_

“ _Oh no….oh, that’s so sad. Poor Charon.”_

“ _Indeed…..but to answer your question, Charon used to be one of the elite in regards to boss monsters, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they somehow knew of my location.”_

“… _.so why are you the man who speaks in hands?”_

_Gaster chuckled at that, his eye-lights fond._

“ _My dear, I speak in a dead language – and I’ve been speaking to you in it for quite some time. In fact, the entire time that you’ve been visiting the Void.”_

_Your blank, shocked face must of spoke true volumes, as Gaster had quite some trouble keeping a straight face as he continued._

“ _I believe it must be some sort of magic the Void possesses – as you became accustomed to my presence and existing within the itself Void, I assume that somehow translated my tongue for your convenience. You remember how it was a little hard for us to understand each-other to begin with?”_

“ _That is….crazy, holy crap.”_

“ _Pfft, indeed.”_

“ _I mean…..wait, does this mean that I won’t be able to talk to you when I get you out of here?”_

“ _In the unlikely event that you do…no, I believe that you’ll be perfectly fine – you see, y/n, there’s another tribulation to this particular magic...”_

“… _.which is?”_

“ _You have, in fact, been speaking in hands the vast majority of the time we’ve been having our conversations. That is part of the reason why I was so excited at the start of our first encounter – imagine it! Not only did you understand me, but you could flawlessly speak back!”_

“… _.you’re kidding.”_

“ _I assure you, I am not.”_

“ _No, but, that’s just…..how?!”_

_Gaster chuckled, ruffling your hair, making you huff indignantly._

“ _Do you think it’ll work outside the Void?”_

“ _I am….not sure, in all honesty. But it’s likely to become a learned habit, if you will – perhaps you’ll be so accustomed to speaking to me in it, it’ll be as effortless as it is here….”_

“ _...still, that’s….wow.”_

_He nods, quiet as he mulled the idea around in his head._

“ _So, why am I supposed to be wary of you, then?”_

_Gaster’s expression turned thoughtful, if not a little concerned._

“ _That I am….not sure of. As I mentioned before, Charon is not quite….but still. Perhaps it has something to do with the nature of the Void itself?”_

“ _Maybe. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”_

_Gaster’s frown deepened, his concern rising a little._

 

“ _Yes, I suppose that we shall.”_

 

_~_

 

You awake the next morning surprisingly well rested despite the rocky start (thank you, Sans), but as you go to stretch, you grumble, feeling the familiar angry cramping in your lower abdomen.

“Oh joyous day. Welcome back, mother nature….you _bitch_.”

You grumble all the more, before softly slinking your way into the bathroom and taking a hot shower, sorting yourself out for the day – there was nothing better for cramps than hot water, though you sadly wouldn’t be able to do much about what was to come later for that day as your ‘heat’ progressed.

As you carefully brushed through tangled damp hair, however, your mind wandered to the previous evening; to be specific, Sans’ strange behaviour, as well as your...response.

“I wonder if it’s….the heat?”

You blush at what that would actually suggest, groaning under your breath. If it was, it was going to mean a lot of awkward moments to come, surely, which you were not going to enjoy in the least.

Still, it did leave you with quite the number of thoughts. Recently, you had noticed….feeling a lot more flustered by his teasing, and then there was the thing about noticing how nice he smelt, and how he stared….

You quickly shoved those thoughts away, hurriedly slapping your cheeks and heading to the kitchen. It was a weird side effect that would be over soon, all you had to do was not think about it to save yourself from cringing.

Toriel was sat by the fire-place, completely absorbed with reading – you recognised her favourite book on snail facts, and snorted gently; you’d never quite understood her obsession with snails. Perhaps she used to be an avid snail racer at Mettaton and Napstablook's snail farm, back in the day?

“G’morning, Tori.”

“Oh! Good morning, y/n – I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“Heh, don’t worry about it; I know how it is with a good book.”

She smiles warmly, going to stand before you stop her.

“Hey, it’s ok – have you already had breakfast?”

“I have, but surely you should rest?”

You chuckle, shaking your head as you walked at a leisurely pace to the kitchen.

“Nah, you know how I am at this time – love my distractions.”

“Well….be careful, my child – I wouldn’t want you to burn yourself again.”

You sighed loudly at the memory of your clumsiness; sadly such things were a running trend. Perhaps there was some sort of magic to help with such things? You immediately thought of Sans and Papyrus’ gravity magic, and day-dreamed about making things float about at will as you grated some cheese to throw into an omelette; it was a quick and easy meal, one you wouldn’t have to stress yourself out over.

Soon enough, you were sat at the table with your breakfast, which sadly lay more or less abandoned on your plate; another annoying quirk of your periods – you’d be starving one minute, make food, take one bite….and feel on the verge of throwing up.

You grumbled, angrily poking at the now offensive eggs while Toriel watched on with a slight frown creasing her features.

“My child, have you lost your appetite again?”

“Seems so. Urgh, it’s so annoying – I hate wasting food like that, I’m so sorry.”

Toriel chuckled at that, standing up and whisking the plate away with a smile.

“Do not fret, my child – we all experience such things at times. Do not be so hard on yourself.”

You sighed heavily, following Toriel through to the kitchen, and watching on mournfully as she disposed of your well and truly destroyed omelette.

“Uh, Tori, random question….I don’t suppose that you’d be able to tell that I was in heat, right? I mean, I’m guessing it’s just the opposite sex that can, uh, pick up on it?”

“Oh no, on the contrary; gender does not feature into it. But I am, ah….I have a partner, even if I do not…. _will not_ see him. Therefore, it is almost impossible for me to sense another’s heat – what I mean to say is that my body does not….seek out another.”

You frowned at her angry, sorrowful expression, reaching over to give her a hug.

“...I’m sorry. I’m sorry that….things happened the way that they did.”

“….I am, too.”

“You miss him?”

She sighed heavily, hugging you a little closer.

“...I do. I miss the old him, the one that I gave my soul to – I do not miss what I believe he has become.”

You hummed, pulling back from the hug while she smiled at you sadly. You had to wonder if Asgore had any chance of redemption – hell, you didn’t even know what the guy was like. But at some point in his life, he was Toriel’s life partner – there had to be a glimmer of hope left for that person to still exist.

“Now my child, what would you like to do?”

You sighed gently, resigning yourself to a day of re-reading one of Toriel’s many books.

 

~

 

“….Toriel?”

She hummed, looking up with slight concern as she took in your puzzled expression; and puzzled you were. Usually when it came to your periods you knew what times to expect what, you had the pill to thank for that – you’d awaken with cramps, and would start bleeding a few hours after. But, today….

….today nothing had happened.

The evening was already upon you, and _still_ nothing. And while normally this wouldn’t be any cause of concern for you (after all, it wasn’t as if you had partners), more of an inconvenience than anything else, under the current circumstances, well….

“….do monsters….”

_Oh god, why, why do I need to ask this question._

“….do you guys….bleed during heats?”

You cringe; urgh, you felt like an ignorant child for asking such a question, and you hated it. But Toriel actually paled at the question (if that was possible with her white fur), looking frankly alarmed by it.

“Goodness, no! My child, are you suggesting that...”

You chuckled awkwardly, sitting across from her with a sigh.

“Yup, that’s what humans get to look forward to.”

“How awful, on top of everything else!”

“You’re telling me...”

Frowning to yourself all the more, you let out another sigh.

“...I don’t suppose you’d know if mages….do?”

Toriel thought on it for a moment.

“….well now that you mention it, I never remember such a thing being an issue with mages. However, I certainly wouldn’t take my word for it.”

“….it wouldn’t make sense if I just stopped like that. I mean, I’ve been walking the earth for quite a while, so by that measure we might even be able to assume that I’m not a mage.”

“I wouldn’t disregard it so soon, my child. When did you start to sense magic?”

“...well….I mean….I only started to really sense it recently, I guess.”

“Then perhaps that is why. Perhaps your true nature has been hidden beneath, much like we are – perhaps encountering true magic has started to ‘wake you up’, so to speak.”

You bite your lip, thinking about it – again, it was just so….foreign a subject, it was a little hard to grasp that kind of information as truth at the moment.

“….maybe. Still, it just seems a little….odd. I mean, for one? Humans don’t….work like that. It’s actually pretty bad for our health to just not bleed like that – might even mean that we’re infertile….wait, were mages infertile? You know, unable to have children?”

Toriel shook her head, her expression quietly confused.

“….right, ok. But if they didn’t….have….it’s just a kind of essential thing when it comes to human reproduction, you know? Biologically, it just doesn’t make _sense._ Unless magic somehow overrides the natural human process and replaces it with something else...”

Toriel sighed softly, smiling at you as you murmured other ideas under your breath.

“Pay me no mind – just the ravings of an old monster, hehe. I’m sure such things will come to light in those tests of yours, in any case.”

“Pfft, Tori, stop. I’ll tell them about everything you’ve said – I mean, it’s certainly something to look into, and it’ll provide more evidence, right?”

She nods, going back to her book in clear satisfaction, happy that you hadn’t written off her idea; but of course you wouldn’t have. After all, what did you know about such things?

 

When you eventually started to bleed, it….could barely be called as such. In fact, you wouldn’t call it that at all – you were spotting at best, and you could only imagine the havoc it would play on your body later.

 

~

 

You awoke with a rigid gasp, clutching your chest.

It was the third night of your ‘heat’, and your second night of no sleep thanks to the tugging sensation in your soul, which was far more powerful than you’d ever experienced – you inwardly wondered if it was due to your heat, or perhaps the recent stress you’d been under.

You swore gently under your breath as your soul gave another awful tug against your sternum, your muscles clenching in reflex at the discomfort. It seemed an endless circle – whenever you were actually sleep, you were plagued by endless nightmares, only to be awoken by the desperate actions your soul seemed intent on making.

It was then that an idea struck you; if you concentrated, perhaps you’d be able to hear your soul’s ‘sound’ and be able to calm it down a little?

It was a horrific struggle to relax at first, given the harsh sensations in your chest, but due to your utter exhaustion, your mind gradually gained some sort of relaxation – you slowed your breathing, breathing in for 5 counts, then out for 5 counts. You closed your eyes, surrendering yourself up to the darkness of the room, searching for anything that would signify you could hear your soul.

And eventually, your efforts paid off.

You soul hummed desperately, thrumming louder and louder, as if crying out for _something_ ….though you couldn’t understand what. You concentrated harder, trying to make some sort of sense of the sensations and sounds – and that was when you frowned in confusion.

For past the screaming of your soul, there was another ‘sound’, a strange, deeper hum, which was screaming far more desperately than the higher pitch your soul was currently emitting; it was similar to the sound of ice just before it breaks, an almost blistering deep cracking sound.

It made you feel sick.

You concentrated harder still, focusing on the dull cracking, reaching out with every fibre of your being, trying to control the panic; to soothe, to comfort.

You thought of pleasant things; the sun upon your skin, the scents of fresh rain, the sensations of running your fingers through something particularly soft.

And little by little, it seemed that the sounds around you listened to the images you were projecting, slowly calming down to pleasant, almost purring tones – clearing approving.

You found yourself smiling tiredly, sighing in relief as the tugging finally alleviated, leaving a peaceful air all around you; the deep humming was soothing, like a lullaby to your sleep deprived mind.

Before you knew it, you fell into the deepest of sleeps, your soul singing gently along with the deeper hum; a sonata you would never be able to fully describe.

 

~

 

You sighed, patting your cheeks to alleviate your embarrassed flush; you’d just finished phoning Grillby to explain the situation, and he had been shockingly understanding – not that alleviated any of your mortification.

You flopped down onto your bed, humming grumpily in the back of your throat as your lower stomach twisted angrily within you, the tops of your thighs clenching in response to the pain. You muttered out a few choice swear words, curling up into a ball and clutching a pillow to your face, digging your nails into the squishy comfort.

Despite taking painkillers, the pain was still gnawing at you, and nothing you tried seemed to help; it was far worse than anything you’d ever experienced before, though that could be perhaps a side effect of very little bleeding (though part of you was quiet happy about that trade). You’d had a hot shower. You’d had a warm drink. You’d even tried to exercise, hearing somewhere that it helped with cramps.

At this point, you were seriously considering ripping out your insides and being done with it all.

You’re distracted from your dark thoughts as your phone buzzes, signifying an incoming call. You quirk a brow curiously, reaching over for it – it was pretty late in the evening, so only a few people came to mind.

And sure enough, one of those names flashed across the screen.

“Hey there.”

“’sup buddy? You sound a little frustrated.”

You chuckled humourlessly, rolling your eyes.

“Just the usual pains. I mean, you might not know what I mean, but…..urgh, anyway. I should be asking you what’s up, as you’re the one who phoned me.”

“….just wanted to make sure that you were ok. I mean, been a while since we talked, heh.”

You blinked, realising that it was in fact the longest you’d gone without talking to Sans since meeting him.

“Huh, I guess it has been….weird. I mean, considering I’ve basically spent every waking hour with you for a while now.”

You heard him chuckle at the other end of the line.

“Yup. So, aside from ‘usual pains’, how have you been?”

“Oh well, I….I’ve been sleeping pretty bad. I mean, having bad dreams a lot – and for the first couple of nights, had the tugging thing again. But you know, I think I made a discovery, in regards to it?”

“….yeah? And what would that be?”

“Well, I….I did that whole thing were I concentrated on how my soul….sounds? Anyway, you know, the sensing thing.”

“….you already figured that out?”

“...yeah….was I not supposed to?”

You hear him chuckle again, even if it is in a slightly flustered tone.

“Heh, s’not that, just surprised you picked it up so fast.”

“I just need to concentrate on it, basically.”

“...huh. You know, you’ll probably just do it without thinking, if you practise – it should become effortless, I mean.”

“….that sounds as if the world would suddenly become very….loud.”

Sans snorted, and you could imagine him rolling his eye-lights.

“Eh, you’d get used to it; it’s not as bad as you’d think. Kinda like birdsong.”

“….that sounds pretty nice, actually.”

“There, you see? You’ll be fine. Anyways, as you were saying?”

“...oh, right! So I sensed that my soul was kinda freaking out about something, but I didn’t know what.”

“….ok.”

“So I concentrated more, and there was this...deeper noise? Anyway, it sounded a lot more….distressed.”

You hear his breath hitch a little at your words, and you frowned.

“You ok?”

“...yeah, I’m fine, just getting comfy. So what did you do next?”

“I just….I just tried to send across positive thoughts, as stupid as it sounds….but it worked! Everything calmed down, and the tugging stopped….heh, I kinda fell straight asleep after that – the sounds were...nice. Calming. I guess they kind of owed it to me for waking me up, heh.”

You heard him snigger softly at your words, before he huffed out a breath.

“Well, uh….sounds like you did the right thing. I mean, as it stopped.”

You narrowed your eyes, letting out a huff of your own.

“There’s still something you’re not telling me about it, huh? Still, I’m glad that I didn’t screw up the universe or something by accident.”

He almost giggled at that, his voice slightly giddy.

“Sorry bud, it’s not Saturday – nothing I can do.”

“You know, I’ll remember that; you’re not getting away that easily, since you owe me two answers this week.”

He chuckles nervously, his voice pitching.

“...unless that happens to be one of the things you simply can’t answer yet?”

There’s a short silence on the other end, before he lets out a gentle sigh.

“...sorry, y/n”

“Hey, it’s ok, don’t worry about it – I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready. ‘sides, it’s not like I’m short on questions, so you’re good.”

“Likewise.”

“Oh, really? I thought I was pretty open about everything...”

His answering chuckle is almost devious; you shiver slightly in response, before frowning at yourself for reacting once again to the depth in his tone.

“You’d be surprised, bud.”

“….right. Well, anyways, I better try to go to sleep. Wish me luck?”

“Heh, all the luck in the world and more. And uh….if you ever have a really bad dream, remember that you can always talk to me, ’kay?”

You smiled warmly, before remembering that he couldn’t see you.

“Yeah. Same goes for you.”

“...g’night, y/n.”

 

“Goodnight Sans. And, uh, if you sleep in my bedroom, please don’t mess it up too much.”

“Heh, no promises.”

“….you are _so_ getting poked for that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to mix magic and biology....welp. >.>  
> (really trying here, and I promise I'll be explaining it better at a later date ;) )  
> Still, hmmmm, wonder what Sansy could be hiding? ;)  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	52. Spaghetti Overdose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we come back from our little 'holiday'...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

“My child, are you sure that you’ll be alright? What if that captain of the Royal Guard-”

“Uh, actually….I think I’ll be ok. Sans kinda hinted that she liked me, and I already know that she’s pretty sorry about everything – I mean, she’s said it at _least_ twice. She’s a good monster, Tori. Just been through...a lot in regards to humans.”

She sighed with a frown, her eyes still strongly expressing her worries.

“...please promise me that you’ll be careful, my child.”

“I will, don’t worry. Plus, I’ve got a lot of friends who….care. Heh, you should have seen the dramas when they were making sure that Undyne wouldn’t hurt me.”

Toriel frowned even harder at that statement, and at your decidedly blasé attitude towards the whole thing.

“Y/n, just….just know that I’m here, alright?”

You thought on it for a moment, desperately wanting to ease her worries.

“You know….maybe one day you’ll be able to come out of the Ruins, see everyone. It might….help, I mean. You’d worry less, right?”

She looked oddly shocked at the suggestion, her expression obviously wary at the idea. But as she clearly ticked over the idea in her head, the more her expression ironed out into thoughtful contemplation.

“I….perhaps, y/n, perhaps.”

“But you know, you wouldn’t have to, if you didn’t want to. I can understand why.”

She took a moment to simply stare at you, clearly assessing your words with a slightly worried frown; before eventually smiling warmly, hugging you close.

“...thank you, my child. Now, do you have everything you need?”

“Yes, I think so. Thank you for letting me stay for the week.”

“Y/n, you are welcome to stay with me whenever you wish – all you need to do is knock on the door, and I will be there. Is Sans coming to pick you up?”

“I was thinking of walking, to be honest; the nostalgia is kind of nice. Sans or Papyrus’ll probably walk with me, though….if they see me, that is. But I’m pretty sure that they will, considering it’s on their guarding routes.”

“All right. Until next time, my child – I love you very much. And remember to be careful!”

“I love you too, mum; see you soon, and don’t worry, I will!”

She smiled at you once more with her familiar motherly warmth, chuckling softly, before you stepped out between the heavy doors and into the snow.

You took a deep breath in, the frigid air filling your lungs to the brim with a sweet familiarity as you breathed out, watching the fog float upwards. You hadn’t been quite aware of how much you’d missed it – but now that you were out of the Ruins, that realisation hit you like a freight train.

With a soft smile pulling at the corners of your lips, you started to shuffle your way down the snowy path that would eventually lead to Snowdin, stepping over the broken remains of the branch that Sans had snapped to terrify you all that time ago; you snorted under your breath at the memory. As you continued, you suddenly heard the slight scuff of footsteps behind you, and rolled your eyes.

“You know, the same prank won’t work twice on me.”

You hear nothing in return, so you grumble low in your throat, continuing your walk (now more of a stomp than anything else) towards the gate, trying your best not to give in and feel any sort of panic as the footsteps quickened behind you, menacingly increasing in volume.

“You’re not gonna freak me out, so _stop it._ ”

You only hear a dark chuckle in return, and even though you recognised it immediately as Sans’ usual tones, you couldn’t help the shiver that ran up your spine.

You turned swiftly on your heel, fully intending to berate him, before you shrieked in surprise upon noting that he was a lot closer that you’d initially thought, practically touching noses with you. His hand snapped out, grasping your arm before you could fall backwards in your shock, his eye-lights bright with mirth.

 

“Thought the same prank wouldn’t work twice on you?”

 

“… _.you’re dead to me, Sans Serif.”_

“Technically, I’m dead to everyone.”

Your dead-panned expression in response to his words only seemed to make him snigger – and all of a sudden he was yanking you close to his body in the tightest of hugs, burying his face into the crook of your neck; you could feel your face immediately light up with surprised blush.

“...missed you, bud. Been _dead_ bored without you.”

“...well then, you’ve made a _grave_ mistake getting on my bad side the second I walked out of those doors.”

“Of _corpse_. I’m so sorry my masterful pranks keep scaring you.”

“What can I say, having potential heart attacks doesn’t tickle my _funny bone_.”

He snorted stupidly loud at that (skeleton puns never seemed to get old with him), pulling back from the hug, his smile wide – you felt yourself smiling in spite of yourself, not being able to force any kind of fake anger when confronted with his genuine expression; but speaking of his expression, he looked…. _exhausted_ , awfully so. The shadows under his eyes stood out to the point of looking as if he’d been attempting to apply eye-liner for the first time and had given up half-way, his normally bright eye-lights slightly hazy at the edges. You immediately feel a pang of guilt; sure, you couldn’t exactly help your little ‘break’, but it almost physically hurt you to think that his sleep had suffered so much in your absence (not to say that your own sleep hadn’t suffered without him – you imagined that you didn’t look much better than him in terms of being well rested). It seemed that he really had missed you, despite the occasional phone call you’d shared while you were under house-arrest.

“...ok, ok, you’re forgiven. Still, doesn’t mean that I’m not going to get revenge – besides, you’re forgetting that it’s Saturday, so I’ll take this opportunity to ask the most embarrassing questions I can.”

He raised a brow bone at that as you began to make your way down the pathway towards his station.

“Oh yeah? Gotta say, I’m kinda intrigued.”

“You should be _scared_ , not intrigued.”

“How does wary sound?”

“….I’ll take it.”

He chuckled, kicking at the snow absent-mindedly as he trudged beside you; which is when you noticed his choice of footwear.

“...you’re wearing your slippers again.”

“They’re comfy.”

“...they’re gonna get all soggy again.”

“Eh.”

You rolled your eyes, jostling his side with your elbow, an action that he returned with a soft snort of laughter.

“I….I missed you too, you know. It was weird not being here in the cold, heh.”

His expression is unreadable as he looked at you in silence for a long moment, coming to a standstill beside his post. You automatically stopped when he did, freezing in place as his suddenly intense expression returned, his eye-lights burning in his sockets as he stared down at you. But just as he opens his mouth to answer you, he’s cut off by the obvious approach of Papyrus, if the avalanche of snow was anything to go by.

You don’t have much time to recover from receiving a solid face-full of snow however (a perfect way to awaken from your weird freezing spell, you had to admit), as Papyrus deemed it necessary to grab you under the arms and swing you in a full circle, before clutching you to him in a tight hug, laughing all the while.

“Sister! Oh, it’s so good to see you – how was your holiday?”

You chuckled slightly at that, shaking your head to rid yourself of any residual snow.

“It was nice – and it’s good to see you too!”

He looked into your face almost inquisitively for a beat, before smiling wider, brighter.

“Are you ready for the most exquisite spaghetti session?”

“...what, now?”

“Indeed! In fact, there is not a moment to waste!”

Before you can even think of disputing his words, you’d been tossed carefully over one of his shoulders, with Sans being tossed over the other; he waved at you lazily, winking.

“Are you ready, sister?”

“ _Wait-”_

Again your wishes are more or less ignored as Papyrus jolts into his usual hyper-speed; you squeak a little in reflex, clamping your eyes shut as Sans chuckles at your actions, eventually poking your cheek to get your attention. You ignore him, grumbling under your breath as your body bounces with the motions of Papyrus’ sprinting.

“Hey, relax – we’ll be home before you know it.”

You found yourself smiling softly at that, liking the sound of it.

 

The thought of being home once more.

 

~

 

“So does this mean you’ll be teaching me your secret recipe?”

“It’s no secret, sister. In fact, Undyne’s the one who taught me!….though her methods are perhaps a little extreme.”

Your brow puckers at that, not knowing how she could possibly make cooking ‘extreme’; cooking had always struck you as an oddly peaceful affair (unless you were stressed – in which case, cooking was hellish).

“Regardless! The student has now become the teacher, nyeh heh heh. Could you please retrieve some tomatoes from the home of vegetables?”

You giggle at his wording, opening the cupboard and grabbing a few large tomatoes, placing them carefully on the table-top; after all, you didn’t want them getting bruised.

“Ok, got them – what next?”

“If you could start to cut them up as small as you can, I would be very gratef– Sans, what are you doing?”

You look over automatically, before letting out a bark of surprised laughter upon seeing that Sans had somehow managed to stuff himself into the spice cupboard, his expression smug.

“I’m here to offer _sage_ advice.”

Papyrus groaned out loud at that, while you couldn't stop yourself from giggling immaturely at the whole situation.

“Sans, _please_. You are in the way of me retrieving essential ingredients.”

“So what you’re saying is….it’s _thyme_ for me to go?”

“Yes, I’m….that was a pun, wasn’t it.”

Sans’ grin widening and you laughing louder served as Papyrus’ answer.

“Pfft, careful Sans, you’ll have to get down from there _gingerly_.”

“Sister, not you too! Spaghetti creation is a serious business!”

“I’m sorry bro – I’m only doing it because I _clove_ you very much.”

“….Sans, so help me, I will drag you out of that cupboard if you do not vacate it immediately.”

Sans chuckled, blinking out of existence, then re-appearing next you to, making you flinch violently in response, though you really should have expected it. He gently patted your back in some sort of an attempt to apologise, amused grin still in place.

“That’s better. Y/n, have you completed your task?”

“….oh! Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll get to it.”

You quickly started to chop up the tomatoes, while Sans let out another chuckle, moving away from your side with a lazy amble.

“Can I help at all, bro?”

“….as long as you promise not utter any more terrible puns.”

You perk up at this, pausing for a moment in your hurried tomato chopping.

“...does this mean that I can utter terrible puns in his place?”

“Sister, please.”

You giggled, Sans chuckling along with you; Papyrus’ serious expression twitched just a touch, evidently suppressing a smile.

“Sans, you may assist by fetching the saucepan, then filling it with water.”

“Gotcha, bro.”

“Do not forget to put salt in the water.”

“Yup.”

Sans did as he was instructed, whistling softly under his breath; but aside from muted chopping, that was the only sound in the kitchen as you all sought to complete your tasks – but at last, the tomatoes were diced as finely as you could get them.

“...I’m done here with the chopping, Paps.”

Papyrus leant over to inspect your work, his grin widening.

“Wonderful! Now, we’ll add these to these to the onions and herbs...”

You blinked, obviously having been too absorbed by your task to notice the sizzling, fragrant onions in the pan – you tipped your tomato mess into it, vaguely enjoying the popping when it hit the small cacophony of ingredients.

“Is there garlic in there, too?”

“There certainly is!….come to think of it, can you chop a few more tomatoes? I am not sure there will be a plentiful amount.”

You frowned just a touch, but did as he asked; it seemed as if the amount of sauce would already be more than enough for the three of you in your mind, but who were you to question the great Papyrus’ methods in cooking?

“So how long will this all cook for?”

“The sauce will need to cook down for quite some time! A few hours, perhaps.”

“Oh wow, that’s….quite the time.”

“It increases the flavour – it is on a very low heat however, so do not worry about it burning!”

“….that’s pretty cool. Where did you learn that tip?”

“I learnt it from a video I found from the surface!….though I will admit, while the teacher is very good, he does seem to have a bit of an anger problem. Regardless! I have learnt a great deal from his excellent methods.”

You had a sneaking suspicion that you knew who this mystery angry teacher was, but did not voice your concerns – after all, Papyrus was more than old enough to know what a swear word was, even if he didn’t seem to approve of them.

“Ok bro, saucepan’s filled up – what next?”

“….well, I suppose you could get out a packet of spaghetti so it is within perfect retrieval length when we need to use it. However, aside from that, that might be all we can do for now – a good spaghetti takes time, after all.”

“’kay.”

Suddenly you hissed out a pained breath, having slipped up, nicking yourself with the knife as you were finishing up with the tomatoes, too distracted by what Sans was doing.

“Oh, _crap._ Ow ow ow….”

You jam your finger into your mouth, looking around for something to staunch the oncoming blood – Papyrus looked over in concern, but Sans seemed rooted to the spot, his eye-lights pin-points in his sockets. You pull your finger away from your lips to examine it, grumbling in annoyance when liquid red started to immediately rise to the surface.

“Hey, Paps, is there something I can wrap this in for a sec? I’ve got plasters in my bag, but I don’t want to get blood anywhere….”

“… _.you’re bleeding?”_

You look over to Sans with a slightly sarcastic raised eye-brow, clutching your injured finger with your other hand to save the floor’s pristine surface.

“Yup. That’s what happens when you cut yourself with a knife, sadly.”

 

He hissed in a breath at your words, eye-lights completely disappearing from his sockets as he drops the packet of spaghetti, the contents spilling everywhere.

 

“...brother?”

“ _...I gotta go.”_

And before you or Papyrus could even think of stopping him, he’d blinked out of existence. Next thing you knew, you were yelping in pain as your soul suddenly tugged, and tugged _hard_ , just as it usually did when waking you up in the dead of night; Papyrus glanced at you in surprise and confusion, obviously still worrying over the sudden exit of his brother.

“Ah….I’m sorry, I….my soul’s just feeling a little weird, that’s all.”

“….are you alright, sister? How is your hand?”

You look down at it absently, noting the blood dribbling away from the shallow wound – but it was nothing dangerous.

“It’ll be ok – like I said, I’ll get a plaster. Do you….do you think Sans’ll be alright? What happened?”

Papyrus paused for the briefest of moments, before sighing softly, kneeling to gather the spilled box of spaghetti upon the floor.

“I….I think so. Sometimes, he has these moments….these moments where he freezes up and disappears for a while. But he always comes back….and he won’t talk to me about it, no matter what I do.”

You frowned, about to reach out to him before he continued, his voice bouncing with positivity, his smile wide and bright.

“But no matter! I will be here for him when he does want to talk, and in the meantime I will make sure that there’s plenty of spaghetti to go around!”

“...Papyrus. You don’t….you don’t have to force yourself to be happy, you know. You can be sad and worried for him, if you want to be, I mean.”

Papyrus appeared to freeze for a moment, before sighing, his bright smile twisting into a slightly morose one.

“...I know that. But I also know that he’s even sadder when he sees that I’m worried – things seem to be easier on him when I just….smile. So I will be happy enough for the two of us!”

Your heart clenched along with your tugging soul, and suddenly you had sunk to your knees, hugging him hard to you.

“... _you don’t have to._ I’m here too, now – you’re not alone. You don’t have to deal with this alone! You don’t….you don’t have to paste on a smile when it hurts, ok?”

He momentarily freezes up at your actions, before it was almost as if the strings holding him up had snapped, and his massive frame sagged into your hold.

“….thank you, sister. I am….I am so happy that you’ve come into our lives. Though of course, I am not too happy about you falling down a hole to get here.”

You snorted despite yourself, pulling back to see Papyrus grinning at you mischievously, before returning to his task of picking up spaghetti pieces with a gentle exhale, his expression decidedly worried, but somehow a little….lighter.

“Now, you’d better get something to help with that wound, sister – and just...relax, if you soul is giving you trouble.”

“It’s not….it’s not _trouble_ , per say, just a weird….tugging feeling.”

Papyrus’ motions stilled at that, his sockets widening slightly as he watched you rubbing at the area which held your soul, frowning in discomfort all the while you did so.

“….I see. Well….why don’t you try to follow it? Your soul is probably attempting to tell you something important.”

You quirked your head inquisitively at his words, your brow puckering. But then you hum in thought; of course, why hadn’t you considered it before? Though given the current chaotic moment, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

“….you know, you might be on to something there. Ok. Are you….are you alright dealing with this by yourself?”

His smile is bright and genuine as you stand up; not a single thing fake about his expression, much to your relief.

“Of course I am! I assure you, thanks to your assistance, this will be the greatest of friendship spaghettis there ever was!”

You chuckled gently, nodding your head in agreement.

“Ok, I’ll….I’ll do what you said.”

His grin widened further at that, and he went back to gathering the dropped noodles as you headed out of the kitchen to get some plasters for your cut.

Then you were intent on following where the tugging wanted you to.

 

~

 

And that was how you’d found yourself back in the snow, heading progressively deeper into the woodland surrounding Snowdin. You’d never actually dared to enter the woods, for fear of getting lost – they seemed to be almost endless, and you certainly didn’t recognise any of your surroundings.

“….I hope you’re right about this, Papyrus.”

You definitely didn’t want to end up lost and alone in the woods for the night – especially not with the masses of snow around you. Freezing to death was not on the agenda today, no siree.

You soul tugged you all the harder, and you grumbled under your breath.

“Ok, ok, I’m going, I’m going.”

You increased you pace, the snow fighting your movements as it gathered up around your ankles; but you certainly weren’t going to give up yet, not after coming as far as you had. Besides, it was probably damn good cardio.

As you trudged onward, you found yourself getting increasingly worried over Sans; you’d been trying not to, after Papyrus’ firm insistence that his brother would be alright – but his face at that time was….haunting you. It reminded you so strongly of the time he’d had a panic attack; but instead of freezing up, he’d simply….run away. Something about you cutting your finger open had freaked him out to the point he’d fled – had it been the concept of you getting hurt that had frightened him so much? After all, he did seem to worry a stupid amount for your general safety. But then, surely he would have swooped down upon you as he usually did, with his slightly overbearing (and a little endearing) concerns?

 

No, something told you that he’d run away for quite a different reason.

 

You’d already suspected that something had happened in his past that had seriously affected him, given his night terrors and panic attacks, but you still had no idea what it could have been, and that frustrated you – you wanted to help him, to lessen the toll his memories had on him, even a little bit. But if he didn’t want to talk to his brother, why would he want to talk to you? True, he was starting to open up a little, but he’d already made it perfectly plain that some subjects were prohibited. And yes, you were fine with that, you’d accepted it – but it didn’t mean that you weren’t any less frustrated by it, especially if it meant that you would have the potential of helping him, if only you knew.

You’re distracted from your worried musings as your soul gives another insistent tug, making you grunt and trip slightly in surprise, before quickening your pace once more; you were jogging as well as you could through the thick and unrelenting snow, your pulse thudding loudly through your skull with the effort.

It then occurred to you to attempt connecting with your soul once more, to calm the humming that was bound to be screaming out, given the harshness of the tugs – but then, would it prevent you following to where your soul so desperately wanted to get to?

Regardless, you found yourself concentrating as you sped through the snow, which somewhat eased the thudding of your pulse as you evened out your breathing.

In for 5, out for 5. In for 5, out for-

The humming emerged much sooner than you expected it to, taking all of a few seconds; perhaps Sans had been right about practise, that soon it would become effortless and a constant presence. Something you admitted you found a little foreboding, if you soul would insist on screaming out like this occasionally – it certainly wasn’t a pleasant sound or sensation to behold.

Gritting your teeth, you concentrated harder still, your legs moving faster without you noticing – you were too busy seeking out the deeper tones.

And suddenly, your efforts paid off – but the deeper tones were almost terrifying to ‘hear’; you stumbled in reflex, eyes wide, before your pace continued once more.

It was an almost primal howl, and emotionally painful to experience – your eyes started to tear up before you realised it, your exhales coming out as gasping sobs.

There was so much _pain_.

So much _sadness_ – it was almost endless. You knew that kind of pain, you knew it far too well; and before you could fathom what you were doing, you were desperately sending across images of joy and sweetness, giving everything within you to stop the screaming, your legs picking up into a run. But you found yourself….bounced back; it was as if the deeper hum had closed itself off, built a wall around it to ensure no-one could enter.

But you were stubborn.

You started to run, faster, _faster_ – you didn’t know what awaited you at the end of whenever your soul was leading you, but you knew that you had to get there, the deeper hum needed you, _it needed you_ -

You blink in surprise when you hear something just in front of you, and slowed your pace just a touch, even as your soul screamed out in protest.

For in front of you, there was a clearing, and in that clearing, a shape could clearly be seen.

You approached cautiously, ignoring the screaming hums in favour of focusing on the sobbing figure in front of you.

 

“...Sans?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...sorry, I just loved the idea of Gordon Ramsey being Papyrus' secret teacher x'D  
>  So, uh, warning: I've just left England to start moving into my new house in France! Yay! But that means that next week's chapter might not be on Tuesday :/ I'm not sure yet, but it depends if I can get internet in my new place by then. If I can't....well, the two options are: the next chapter being on Thursday/Friday, or being later than next Tuesday :( So, let me hear your thoughts on that!  
> Also....I edited this after traveling for 17 hours solid. So expect typos xD (tell me if you find them, and I'll edit them out!)  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	53. Scents Of Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally realise something....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!....or rather, it usually does. BUT THIS IS NEXT WEEK'S CHAPTER. Because I'm not sure when my new place will get the internet. Anyways, enjoy, and I'll hopefully see you Tuesday after next! :D

Sans jolted harshly at being addressed, his socket immediately igniting with magic – and for a fraction of a moment, absolute blind panic ruled his face….

 

...and you felt yourself start to float off the ground.

 

But then recognition returned to his sockets, and your feet hit the ground once more, the force of it juddering up your legs, shaking your very bones. But you managed to stay standing, despite wincing at the sensation.

He simply stared at you, his jaw opening and closing wordlessly, his eye-lights spasming in and out of focus as his magic sputtered with evident stress, tear-tracks standing out stark against his cheeks. Hesitantly, you started to slowly approach – almost as one would when approaching a skittish animal.

And all the while, the hummings that had been screaming all around you were dulling to startled, jarring bounces; and it suddenly clicked.

 

The deeper hum, and the tugging in your soul had been Sans all this time.

 

You stuffed that particular revelation away for the time being in favour of calming him down first; making sure that he was ok was the first priority.

“Sans…?”

He jolted at the sound of your voice in the muted quiet of the clearing as if it physically hurt him, and you immediately backtracked; instead, you decided to settle for your other option in terms of comforting him – by sending across anything happy. After all, it seemed to work when you were away from him at Toriel’s.

His eye-lights dilated noticeably when you send over your first taste of monster cuisine; monster candy. How the sweet tastes had more or less flooded your senses, relieving you of any injuries you’d gathered in the fight against Napstablook.

You sent across the times you’d laughed with him, punning like idiots.

You thought of the joy Papyrus gave you just by smiling.

The quiet, peaceful moments with Alphys discussing anime.

Toriel’s hugs and warm expressions.

Sans’ smile.

“Y/n….what are you...”

You’re shaken slightly out of your intense concentration, looking into his eye-lights in surprise, not expecting him to suddenly speak; only to see him staring at you with evident awe, his eye-lights blown wide. Encouraged, you start to approach, before you’re standing all but a hand-span away from him, looking up into his face as he looked down into yours.

The deep hum that was his everything seemed to purr in response as you closened, and you smiled, knowing that you’d finally managed to get through to him. Experimentally, you sent through the warmth upon your skin that only the sun could give; he shuddered in response, his mouth opening to let out a long exhale.

“…. _you’re_ ….you’re doing that. Stars...”

You smiled a little wider at that, still watching his expression for any signs of distress. But you found none – he seemed to be completely absorbed by whatever positive thought you threw his way, greedily absorbing them.

How soft a kitten’s fur feels….as well as the soft skin on puppies’ tummies.

The sweet relief of ice cold water when the sun beats down upon you.

The scents of a summer evening as you gaze up at the stars.

You see a soft smile start to spread across his face, his eye-lights hazy as he stared down at you, the awe in his expression ever present. His hum had completely settled at this point, lazily curling around you like smoke, purring and singing with the rhythm your own soul gave out. The tugging had stopped. You could stop.

_But you didn’t want to_.

It was a realisation that shocked you slightly – after all, what more was there to achieve, having calmed him, made him happy once more? You almost felt locked in place, staring up at him, your soul singing in tandem with his.

 

You almost wanted….to be _closer_.

 

You’re instantaneously jerked out of your almost hypnotised state by Sans as he plants his hands down heavily upon your shoulders, his eye-lights boring into you with their intensity, huffing out deep breaths.

“That’s….that’s enough, now. I’m ok. I’m ok now.”

You exhale slowly, concentrating on the sensation of his hands digging into the skin of your shoulders, grounding you; and the humming seemed to fade, getting fainter and fainter, until it was nothing more than a flicker in the background-

 

-but it didn’t seem to leave.

 

“I….I can’t turn it off. I can’t stop hearing it.”

Sans chuckled, albeit a little breathlessly.

“That’s normal. Well, ok, I’m not sure if it’s….normal for humans, but it is for me, for….for monsters. You’re ok. You’re….safe.”

You frowned, your gaze sliding away from his for the briefest of moments, before travelling back.

“What was that? What was I….”

He snorted, only straightening his expression when you scowled at him.

“Heh, sorry – I’m just kind of….surprised? What you did, I….I honestly never thought that you’d….”

“Sans, _what_ did I do? I know that you keep saying that you can’t talk about things, but this…..this is one of those _big things_ , right?”

He sighed, his expression exceptionally tired, and you immediately felt guilt crawling up your spine; you rushed forward, hugging him to you as tightly as you could – you heard him let out a surprised huff in reaction.

“...are you ok? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry – I didn’t meant to upset you.”

He seemed to pause, before releasing a tired sigh, hugging you to him just as tightly, to the point your face was more or less buried in his chest, his sultry scent enveloping you.

“I’m….I’m alright. You helped a lot. And….it wasn’t your fault. Heh, it wasn’t even something I should have….I should be _stronger_ than that.”

You pulled back slightly to scowl up at him, which made him growl gently, clutching you all the closer.

“Don’t say that! You shouldn’t….it’s _never_ going to be your fault. I don’t know what happened to you, and it’s ok for you not to tell me until you’re ready, or not at all – but whatever it is Sans, it’s _not your fault._ ”

You heard him chuckle above you, his body leaning over yours just a little, so that his face was touching the top of your head, ruffling your hair – so you could feel his slightly haggard exhales as he clearly tried to suppress tears, his soul’s hum jolting a little with his inner turmoil; you own soul seemed to hum a little sadder in reaction.

“Buddy, believe me, it’s….it’s all my fault. Heh. But….thank you.”

You say nothing to that, purposely digging your nails into the surface of his back to illustrate your displeasure at his words; his breath seems to hitch in reaction, before he lets out a shaky chuckle.

“….how did you find me, anyway?”

“I followed the tugging.”

“...wait, I thought that only happened at night?”

“Well, uh….apparently not. And it led me straight to you.”

You looked up, his face mere inches from yours.

“Now, can you maybe tell me….why?”

He stared into your face deeply, his gaze so intense you knees started to feel weak and shaky, before he shut his sockets, letting out such a deep groan your swore that even your soul thudded in reaction.

“I….I can’t. Not yet. I’m sorry.”

“….when will you be able to?”

“I….I know it sounds stupid, but I want to….I want to confirm something first. Alph is gonna do those other tests you figured out on Tuesday – heh, sorry, forgot to mention that earlier.”

“And those results will tell you if you can tell me or not?”

He huffs, his hot breath brushing against the skin of your cheeks, and you freeze for a moment, because, _oh god_ , his scent suddenly became so much stronger.

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess they will.”

“….is it important?”

“….that depends. It’s important to me. You’ll get to decide if it’s….important to you.”

“….but that’s only if the result’s the one you’re looking for.”

He lets out another huff, his sockets finally re-opening, eye-lights dilating as he focused down at you.

“I’m sorry. I know that’s unfair.”

“...well, I can’t agree or disagree with that statement, really. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.”

He chuckles, his eye-lights growing slightly hazy with his fond expression.

“You’re far too good, you know.”

“Nah – I’m the most hideous of demons, and you know it.”

He lets out a soft snort, shaking his head.

“But, really…..you’re ok now? I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

“Wasn’t your responsibility, bud.”

“Well, my soul clearly disagrees.”

His face instantly lights up with blush at that, a soft, shocked exhale ruffling your hair.

“Y-y/n, you can’t just say stuff like that, heh...”

You quirked your head slightly, brushing against his shoulder as you did so.

“Was it rude?”

“N-no….not rude….”

You smirked, enjoying the sight of seeing him blush further.

“Aw, am I making you flustered?”

He scowled at that, as you giggled at his obvious disdain – and at the fact he wouldn’t be able to get his usual revenge of poking you in the cheek, thanks to the angle in which he was holding you. He rolled his eye-lights, before his expression turned oddly regretful – and he loosened his arms around you, stepping away. You felt your face light up; you’d had to shove down the impulse of whining at his absence, and shove it down _hard._

“….you ready to head back home, bud? I’m guessing you’re pretty cold by now?”

“Well, not really, thanks to-”

You cut off your own words with a slightly strangled noise, all while Sans watched on with obvious confusion.

_I was just about to say ‘thanks to you.’ What the hell is wrong with me?!_

“Y/n? You doing ok?”

“Yup! Sorry. Was going to say that I’m not cold because I basically ran all the way here – yeah, sorry, got a random tickle in my throat.”

“….you can get tickles on the inside of you?!”

_Yes. Evasion successful._

“Yeah, sometimes. I mean, technically I can feel all of my organs? But that kind of thing only shows up if I’m sick. Otherwise, my throat, ears and….uh….other places….are all areas that can tickle or itch.”

“….but you can’t even _reach_ there.”

“I know. It can be incredibly annoying.”

He snorts, shaking his head with a slightly incredulous expression.

“Oh man. Humans can be so weird. I mean, I read the other day that some of your organs aren’t even used? They just kinda….sit inside you. Not doing much.”

“Yup, they certainly do. I mean, if you think about it, you’re kinda the same – everything just works, and sometimes you’re not too sure how it does, but it does.”

He lets out a bark of laughter, rolling his eye-lights.

“Alright, you’ve got a point. Anyways, seriously, should we go?”

“….are you ready to go?”

He pauses, looking around the clearing with a gentle frown as he pondered if he really _was_ ready; before he sighs heavily, looking back to you with the softest of smiles.

“Yeah, I am. C’mere, let’s get back to Paps.”

You more than willing ly head back into his arms, fingers gripping into the soft material of his hoodie – you sigh  with  happiness at the sensation despite yourself .  You could have sworn that he shuddered for a moment  before teleporting home; before you knew it, you were stood in the warmth of the living room – and Sans was letting  go  of  you  in favour of  head ing into the kitchen.

“Hey bro, we’re back.”

“Oh! I wasn’t aware that y/n had found you! Welcome back.”

You frowned  slightly , taking in Papyrus’ obviously smug smile, the puzzle pieces fitting into place. Whatever it was that Sans didn’t want you to know, Papyrus clearly knew about  it , or had enough of a suspicion about it to give you advice – he had wanted you to discover what your soul was tugging you towards.

_He wanted you to know. But Sans….Sans didn’t, not yet._

So surely whatever it was wouldn’t be….dangerous?  Papyrus would never put you in the line of danger, after all.  But Sans had said that it was important….important to  _him_ . And maybe important to you?

You shook your head slightly in an effort to clear up your confusion. You were so close to the truth, you could practically taste it – but it somehow lay just out of reach, frustratingly.

In the meantime, you found yourself distracted by something else entirely.

“Holy shit Papyrus….that’s a _lot_ of spaghetti.”

And it was. Enough to feed an army, you’d wager.

Papyrus frowned at you over the mound he was slowly folding the sauce into.

“Language.”

“She’s speaking English, Paps.”

You snorted far louder than you intended to, covering your mouth to smother your surprised giggles, all while Sans smiled smugger than the cat who’d got the cream. Papyrus, on the other hand, simply frowned at his brother, before shaking his head  in clear disapproval .

“Yes, it is indeed a plentiful amount of spaghetti, sister – but it serves a very important purpose!”

“….oh right. And, uh, what’s the purpose?”

“Why, to feed our guests, of course!”

Both you and Sans frown at him in confusion while he stands proud, effortlessly posing whilst still folding in sauce like a master.

“….guests, bro?”

“Indeed! I have invited our friends over to dinner, in celebration of y/n’s return from her holiday in the Ruins!”

“….oh, um, right. Thank you, Papyrus, that’s really kind.”

You smiled up at him, a smile which he returned ten-fold, clearly proud that his master-plan had been pulled off effortlessly.

“That’s quite alright, sister! And thanks to your help, I am sure that this will be the finest of spaghetti dishes yet!”

You chuckled, blushing despite yourself; Sans, however, still had his face fixed into a frown.

“….which friends, bro?”

Papyrus’ smile instantly seemed to drop off his face as he fidgeted, appearing to suddenly be very absorbed with incorporating the sauce into the noodles. Sans wasn’t having any of it, however, stepping a little closer to his brother, brow bone raised.

“ _Papyrus?_ ”

“….oh, you know, Alphys, Mettaton...”

He whispered something under his breath, and Sans made an authoritative sound in the back of his throat.

“….and Undyne.”

“Yup, that’s what I thought you said. Y/n….are you ok with that?”

You thought hard for a moment, running through your feelings before looking back to Sans, an obviously hopeful Papyrus drifting in the background.

“...yeah, I’m good. It’ll be nice to get to know her in a social gathering, anyway – be a bit awkward just suddenly being alone with her.”

Papyrus made a loud victorious noise at that, waving a wooden spoon up at the ceiling reminiscent of He-man activating his power.

“I knew it! Getting to know someone over the bond of incredible spaghetti is always the best idea – after all, it’s how I became friends with you, y/n!”

You snorted, shaking your head slightly.

“Paps, I was more than happy to be your friend the second you introduced yourself. But you’re right – it’ll be a chilled out atmosphere, and that’s always nice.”

His smile more or less leapt up a kilowatt, and he furiously dove back into the art that was his spaghetti creation.

“Wonderful! Now, if you could go pick out some games, I would be most appreciative.”

You nodded, happily trotting off to the living room, unaware that Sans had followed you until you turned slightly and started with surprise.

“Oh man, _please_ , you’ve got to stop doing that.”

“And miss seeing that expression on your face? Not for all the gold in the Underground.”

He smirked, all but throwing himself onto the couch with a satisfied sound, leaving you to dig through the boardgames’ draw, which was proving more than successful in hiding your unexpected blush. You distracted yourself with an entirely different problem.

“Hey, uh…..what kind of board games do you think Undyne would like?”

“….huh, good question.”

Sans hums in thought for a moment, before coming to some kind of conclusion.

“Well, to be honest, heh, she’s not the most patient of monsters, but I think you gathered that.”

“….so nothing like Monopoly then, gotcha.”

“She’s pretty damn competitive, too.”

“….so _definitely_ not Monopoly.”

Sans snorted, rolling his eye-lights.

“Yup, I think that’s established. She has a wicked sense of humour, so maybe….oh wait, you know, she really enjoys drinking games. Kind of the combination of everything she loves, heh.”

“Oh man, do you think I’m ready for trying monster booze?”

He chuckled, his eye-lights bright with potential teasing.

“Pfft, well, it’d be one way to relax the atmosphere, that’s for sure. Mind you, Paps doesn’t really like to drink.”

“….oh yeah, he did kind of give off that vibe when I spoke about my late night shift at Grillby’s.”

Sans smirked, leaning forward a little in his seat on the couch.

“...honestly? It’s ‘cause whenever Undyne gets him to drink, he gets absolute _killer_ hangovers. Has to stay in bed all day – and you know Pap. Always moving, always active; lying in bed is something he loathes like nothing else.”

You snigger, sifting through the contents of the box thoughtfully.

“Heh, right, ok, no drinking games unless we can help it. Besides, I don’t think that we even have any booze for it...”

“Pretty easy fix – I’d just have to ‘port over to Grillbz.”

“Oh, that’s true….still, it’s pretty easy to play drinking games without getting drunk. Most of them can be fixed so you don’t even need to feature alcohol, so that might be a happy medium.”

“True. Any other ideas?”

“….how about...uh….I think it’s called ‘kings’? It’s a card game, anyway. Well, kinda.”

“Explain it to me.”

“Well, it’s a little like truth or dare, I guess – basically, the cards are dealt out, and whoever gets the king gets to pick out a dare; but it’s anonymous. Like, they could say for the person holding an ace to hug the person holding a seven, but they wouldn’t know who was who.”

“Oh yeah, I think she’d like that one.”

“Ok, well, it’s an idea. Otherwise, I really don’t have anything else.”

You stood with a slightly defeated sigh, flopping down onto the couch next to him.

“Well, let’s review – we’ve got a butt load of drinking games and this card game you mentioned. I’m sure that’s more than enough, bud.”

“I certainly hope so.”

“It’ll be fine – I’m sure that she’ll like you just as much as everyone else does.”

His eye-lights were fuzzy as he stared at you with such a fondness you found your face quickly heating up; his smile soon turned into a smug smirk, his expression suddenly a lot more devious.

“You ok there, buddy? Looking a lil’ flushed.”

You frowned, poking him hard in the ribs, making him grunt and grumble, narrowing his sockets at you in challenge.

But for once, you don’t follow up, instead turning away with an indignant huff; he lets out a snigger in response – but when you still don’t respond, he lets out a heavy sigh, suddenly snaking his arm around your waist and pulling you into an awkward side-hug, leaving your eyes to widen in response, cheeks heating up further.

“….I don’t think I ever said thanks for today. And yeah, I know you think that it’s your fault and all, but….you made me feel happy again. And when I’m like that….heh, it’s pretty hard to get out of. So….thanks, y/n.”

You bite your lip slightly, but manage to stutter out an answer.

“N-no problem. Happy I c-could help.”

Sans chuckled, finally releasing you; before you squeaked in surprise once more upon finding he’d suddenly teleported a book into your lap – he snorted lightly in response, already starting to thumb through his own book.

But for once, you don’t immediately get to reading.

 

Your thoughts were running wild in your skull as you added up the facts.

 

The way you’d started to feel when he stared at you just a little too hard.

 

The way you relished in his scent.

 

The way your heartbeat sped up whenever he hugged you close, or whenever he smiled.

 

The stupid excessive blushing.

 

And with today, after seeing him after a week….and comforting him in the woods….hell, you could probably add in how you’d reacted at Toriel’s, even if it had been effected by your ‘heat’. No, come to think of it….it was probably even _longer_ than that. After all, why would you have felt as comfortable as you did with him, while also feeling slightly flustered whenever he teased you? And that had been going on well before you fell ill, when he’d more or less nursed you back to health.

He made you feel _safe_. Safer than you’d ever thought that you’d feel. There had been more than one occasion that one simple look from him had chased all your fears away – and he didn’t even know it.

At this point, it was more than obvious to you what was going on, and you felt your stomach freeze up with the thought of it.

 

You had fallen for your best friend – and you’d fallen hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....took you long enough, y/n.  
>  So yeah, I know it's not called 'kings', but I've completely forgotten the name, and apparently, so has y/n - convenient, eh? ;)  
> Uh, so, yeah, this is next week's chapter, just so you know - so no new chapter next Tuesday. Instead, it'll be the Tuesday after! :D  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	54. A Mad Tea Party With No Tea, But Plenty Of Spaghetti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we gather our thoughts and prepare to eat some delicious spaghetti....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You gulped, fingernails digging into the book you were desperately trying to focus on – but your thoughts were a complete maelstrom at present, so it was as pretty fruitless effort.

Not only would you be having dinner with _Undyne_ of all monsters present in a short amount of time, but you’d also accepted the fact that you most definitely had _feelings_ for the skeleton monster sitting beside you.

You glanced over surreptitiously, watching as his eye-lights traced over the words on the pages of his book on astrophysics, lazy smile in place as he leaned into the couch cushions with an equally lazy air. Your brow puckered, jealous of the fact that he looked so unbothered by everything whilst your mind was in complete chaos.

You look back to your own book, still frowning. But try as you might, the words still swam upon the page, not sinking in in the least as your mind wandered.

How would Undyne react upon seeing you again? You really didn’t think that human shish-kebabs went all that well with spaghetti, but you had a feeling she’d argue that fact if she felt the need to. But she’d hinted that she liked you, right? That she wanted to get to know you better? Papyrus was right – there wasn’t a much better environment for her to see what kind of person you were, and that you weren’t like the other humans she’d encountered before.

That said, you only knew of one human she’d encountered before, and you already knew that was a pretty horrific experience. Had she been the one to collect the other souls, or was it a team effort with the Royal Guard? Or had Asgore taken the task upon himself? Obviously, you couldn’t ask such questions, not to her – you could only imagine how well that would go down. Still, it intrigued you on some morbid level – the only thing you knew about the other humans that fell were that they were…. _children_.

But what were they like? Were they all homicidal maniacs due to the influence of the ‘demon’ on the surface? Gaster had hinted that some of them purposely gave themselves over without a fight, though – you couldn’t be more grateful that you’d been spared thanks to what seemed to be a fluke at this point; unless all mages had some sort of weird connection to the Void, that is. But then again, you weren’t even sure that you _were_ a mage, even if the evidence thus far pointed to it….though you had to admit that you were warming up to the idea, given the perks that came with it – sadly the vices that came with it more than terrified you, so you tried your best not to think on that subject.

You also had to wonder if it would bother your friends if you were. Toriel didn’t seem too perturbed by the idea – and you had a feeling that Grillby wouldn’t be bothered due to his knowledge of the past; he didn’t seem to hold a grudge against the mages that created the barrier, after all. But how would the others feel? If Undyne did end up being your friend, it could go either way – she’d either want to kill you for being a threat, or she’d call you a bad-ass, and you obviously hoped for the latter. But would the others be….afraid of you? The thought sent sickening shivers up your spine, and you snuggled a little deeper into the couch to cover it up.

And then there was…. _Sans_. You knew now that you had it for him, and had it bad, to the point you could barely control yourself if he pressed your boundaries a little. But you honestly had no idea how he’d react if….if you _did_ manage to tell him. Some part of you had a strong suspicion that he would be repulsed – you were human, after all. Sure, he might be your friend, and he might be scientifically interested in how your body worked, but would that ever translate to romantic feelings? He’d already made it pretty clear that he wouldn’t care if you turned out to be a mage, so you could at least put that particular worry to rest. But as for everything else? You just didn’t know. It was true that he’d become a lot more touchy-feely with you as of late, but it could be that he was just teasing you – you already knew that he seemed to posses some sort of grim amusement in doing so at every opportunity.

 

But what if….you were wrong? What if you just took a chance? Would he….hate you?

 

You felt your soul freeze over at the notion, the humming crying out gently in protest – and you couldn’t blame it; the thought made you feel physically sick.

“Hey, buddy – you ok? Looking a little serious over there, heh. Your light reading not light enough?”

You blinked, looking over to Sans as he frowned, obviously concerned.

“Yeah, I’m….I’m just thinking. There’s a lot going on up here, I guess.”

“Don’t blame you. But you know, I’m sure it’ll be ok – like I said, Undyne was warming up to the idea in regards to you. And she wouldn’t agree to coming to dinner if she hated you, y’know?”

You gulped, nodding – of course, he wouldn’t know that was the least of your problems at the moment. You freeze up however when he covers your tense hands with one of his own.

“Hey. Look at me.”

You do, without hesitation – his eye-lights burned intensely as he gazed at your face, a slightly grim smile in place.

“You’re gonna be ok. I won’t let anything happen to you, ok? You’ll be safe. And if it’s too much for you, I’ll make up some bullshit excuse and whisk you away, alright? So don’t worry. I….I’ll make sure that you’re ok.”

Your face flushed; _stupid skeleton monster_. How were you supposed to suppress your feelings when he kept coming out with shit like this?! Especially when he still had his hands over yours, and you could feel his magic dancing across your skin, and-

“….thanks. I’ll try. And, you know, I _want_ to be friends with her. I really hope that it all works out for the best.”

Sans grins, his hand tightening a little upon your fingers.

“It will, bud. You’ll see.”

You smiled back, even if your stomach currently felt as if it was composed of worms attempting to rave.

“Sister! Are you….are you ready?”

You looked over to Papyrus with slight surprise, given the obviously unsure tone of his voice.

“Yeah, I think so. Are you ok?”

“Yes! The spaghetti is perfection – I must thank you, your help obviously improved the taste ten-fold!”

You sniggered, shaking your head.

“I really doubt it – I just cut up some tomatoes, after all.”

“But you cut them up with love! That’s what makes a good meal.”

You chuckled fondly, about to say something else before you drew up short, as you suddenly registered that you could hear yet another quiet hum to join the chorus around you. It was a light sound, jovial, and bounced with an energy that almost made you want to dance along – you have no doubt in your mind that you were sensing Papyrus’ magic.

“Y/n? Bud, you ok? Spacing out there.”

Shaking your head so that you could concentrate on the here and now, you focused on the concerned faces of your friends.

“I….I’m sorry. I was just….I got distracted, I’m sorry.”

Sans hummed in the back of his throat, reaching out with his other hand to rub along the surface of your back.

“Think I know what distracted you. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it, especially around Paps – he’s pretty loud, heh.”

Papyrus frowns, planting his hands on his hips furiously.

“Brother, that’s very rude – my vocal tone is perfectly acceptable!”

“Heh, no, bro – was talking about your magic output. Y/n’s just started to sense them, that’s all.”

Papyrus gasps, all but leaping across the room, scooping you up into a tight hug.

“Oh, this is stupendous news, sister! My greatness will become all the more apparent to you, nyeh heh heh!”

You gasped out a snort of laughter; Papyrus noticed and loosened his hug just a touch.

“Heh, Paps, you couldn’t honestly get any greater in my eyes, trust me.”

Papyrus started to let out a happy squeak, before being interrupted by a knock at the door – and he apparently forgot that he was currently holding you aloft, as he excitedly sped to the door with you still clutched in his arms.

“W-wait, _Papyrus_ -”

He opened the door with his usual enthusiasm, revealing Alphys, Undyne and Mettaton on the doorstep – who all wore slightly surprised expressions; whether this was due to Papyrus throwing the door open with such a force you’re surprised it didn’t come off it’s hinges, or him clutching you to his chest, you couldn’t be sure.

“Greetings, everyone! Are you ready for an evening filled with the finest spaghetti and gaming japes?”

The silence stretches awkwardly for a moment, before Undyne snorts out a laugh, walking past him and into the house – you bit down on your surprise at seeing her out of her armour this time; she was just as jacked as you expected, however, a fact that was more than accentuated with her black tank-top, fitted jeans and boots.

“Sure are, ya big nerd – more than ready!”

Alphys smiled at you nervously, while Mettaton seemed to still be too shocked to utter a word.

“H-hey y/n.”

“Hi there.”

Papyrus finally noticed that he was still clutching you; he made a slight noise of surprise, before gently lowering you back to the ground – you patted his arm deftly so that he knew that he didn’t upset you in any way, which seemed to please him, given the sudden blinding smile. Mettaton finally seemed to gain some sort of semblance of himself, but not as you expected it – in fact, he appeared to be….blushing? You frowned, shaking your head and making a ‘come hither’ motion for them to enter the house before you walked back into the house. Undyne stood in the kitchen, clearly examining the enormous amount of spaghetti with an appreciative eye.

“Damn Papyrus, you sure went the extra mile!”

“Yes – y/n assisted me in this most wonderful meal!”

She looked over at you with mildly dubious expression, her eye lighting up with mild interest.

“You cook, punk?”

“Well, I sliced the tomatoes for this, so I wouldn’t exactly call it cooking – but yeah, I cook.”

“In fact, she cooked those muffins that you enjoyed so much!”

Undyne frowned at that, casting Papyrus a slightly confused expression.

“I thought you said that a friend made those?”

“Y/n is my friend!….and she was my friend at the time.”

Undyne glared at him hard, obviously waiting for the moment that he started to nervously shuffle in place, before letting out a chortle, rolling her eye.

“I’m just pulling your leg, ya big doofus. Pretty impressive that you all kept this from me for this long, to be honest – I mean, sure, I’m a bit pissed about it, but it’s impressive.”

You sighed, giving her a slightly apologetic look.

“I’m sorry. It’s not their fault, it’s mine.”

She examined you for a long moment, before letting out an even louder chortle, punching your shoulder lightly – which made you freeze up automatically, before you forcefully made yourself relax; luckily, Undyne seemed to miss this fact.

“ _Relax_ , you wuss. I’m not angry about it any more – like I said when I texted you, I wanna get to know you better. Plus, it’s not like there’s any point. I mean, you know, with your soul and all.”

She grins her shark-like grin at you, and you can’t help but smile back, more than a little relieved – seemed like human shish-kebab was not on the menu today.

“So, c’mon! I’m freakin’ starving!”

She lets out a booming ‘fuhuhu’, before walking over to the table – Papyrus was already heading into the kitchen, yelling out that he was going to start serving up; and shockingly, Mettaton quickly announced that he was going to help, his heels digging into the carpet as he sped after Papyrus.

Sans glared after the metallic star with obvious venom and suspicion, which you sniggered at, drawing his attention as he frowned at you.

“Heh, he’s not going to eat him – chill out. Just serving spaghetti.”

Sans sighed, his eye-lights straying briefly back over to the kitchen before returning to you.

“Just don’t like him hanging around Pap, y’know? Bad influence.”

“Eh, you’re right – I really don’t want to start finding craft glitter in my food.”

Sans snorted, following you over to the table to sit down with Undyne, who threw the two of you an obvious smirk, almost verging on a knowing grin; but before you could question it, Alphys spoke up.

“S-so, how a-are you, y/n?”

“I’m….ok. Well, actually….I’ve been kinda sensing….hearing….urgh, whatever, magic signatures. And it won’t stop.”

Alphys blinked, her expression immediately fascinated.

“T-that’s amazing, I w-wouldn’t have thought you’d be a-able to focus on it so quickly!”

“Eh, I kind of practised? Anyway, I….tried it out earlier, and now it won’t turn off. Sans said that was normal?”

“W-well, it is f-for a monster, and f-from what we know about m-mages, I would assume it’s n-normal.”

You sighed, pressing your forehead to the table.

“But it’s annooooying. I lose focus was too easy.”

“Stop complaining, nerd – the closer you are to this kind of stuff, the sooner we can break the barrier!”

You looked up at Undyne and her manic grin, cheek still pressed to the table top.

“Would have thought that you’d assume I was a threat or something.”

There’s an awkward beat of silence, and you immediately feel bad when Undyne’s smile drops into a guilty frown; before her shark-like grin returns with a vengeance as she reaches over and messes up your hair, leaving you to squeak indignantly.

“Pfft, you’re an utter weenie, no threat at all.”

You grumble, sitting up, attempting to fluff your hair back into some semblance of uniform; that is, until you hear a deep familiar chuckle next to you – and you freeze up as you felt his fingers start to assist yours in settling your hair.

“Bud, you’re going about it all wrong – let me help.”

“Um….ok.”

You stared with wide eyes at Undyne and Alphys, who both were exchanging smug grins; you scowled at them, which only seemed to increase their smugness.

“There we go – think that’s sorted it out.”

You look over to Sans with a grateful (albeit bashful) smile, purposely ignoring the ongoing smirks from your table mates.

“Thanks.”

Sans examines your face with a slightly odd expression, but before he could say anything, Papyrus came waltzing back through with Mettaton in-tow, bowls of spaghetti in hand. Undyne immediately sat up with clear interest, watching the approaching bowls with barely-contained hunger.

Eventually everyone was seated, digging into their delectable bowls of food; and it soon became clear why Papyrus had made such a massive amount of spaghetti when Undyne quickly polished off her bowl and jumped up for seconds – she mentioned briefly that she needed the energy for training before continuing her light-speed eating. Sans, of course, had long finished off his serving by that point, watching your surprised expressions with obvious amusement (much to your displeasure, as him grinning at you constantly out the corner of your eye was pretty distracting when you were attempting to enjoy your delicious spaghetti).

“This is absolutely delicious Papy darling – how on earth did you learn how to cook as well as you do?”

At this point Undyne bashed her fist down upon the table with her almost manic grin; you decided to forego mentioning Gordon Ramsey’s input for the sake of her honour.

“That’d be _me_ , twerp! Papyrus is my star pupil, fuhuhu!”

Mettaton looked frankly shocked by her statement, and you couldn’t hold in your quiet snort of laughter upon seeing his expression.

“What’s so shocking about that, you glorified can opener!?”

This, of course, resulted in a much bigger snort from you, which you attempted to cover up by stuffing a mouthful of spaghetti into your mouth; Sans, however, didn’t do anything to cover up his chucking as he watched your desperate attempts.

“It’s just that I can’t quite picture it, darling! Of course, I know that you play the piano beautifully, but-”

“Wait, you play the piano?”

Undyne turned her slightly intimidating grin upon you.

“Sure do, punk.”

“Oh man, I’ve always wanted to learn it – think you can give me some pointers sometime?”

The table is silent for a moment as Undyne looks pleasantly surprised – before her grin returns ten-fold.

“ _Hell yeah_ I can! You’re gonna end up the best damn piano player in the Underground by the time I’m done with you!”

You grinned back, excited despite yourself – not only did it seem that friendship between you and Undyne seemed all the more likely, but it also seemed you were going to learn how to play the piano at last.

“And this big weenie-”

She aimed a punch at Papyrus, who dodged masterfully; seemed that all his training had more than paid off, much to your relief.

“-is gonna be the best damn chef! Fuhuhu!”

Sans sniggered at Papyrus’ blinding smile at her words, whilst Alphys laughed nervously, her eyes a little wide after witnessing Papyrus almost getting punched at the dinner table.

“S-so, out of curiosity, y-y/n, can you hear….a-all of us at the m-moment?”

Mettaton looked a little confused at her words, as he wasn’t in the room at the time you were discussing your recent sensing – you decided to help him out.

“I’ve started to be able to hear magic signatures. All the time.”

His eyes immediately light up, excitement clear on his features – so much for your fears of any of your friends being afraid of you.

“Ooh, yes – do tell darling. I’ll be the obvious star here, of course.”

You scoff, rolling your eyes at his words, but you concentrate all the same; before blinking in confusion as the cacophony of noises and sensations around you become a little clearer. You quickly sought out the ones that were familiar to you; your own, Sans, Papyrus and Alphys – though Alphys perhaps seemed a little more….nervous than before? You frowned, ignoring your musings in favour of singling out the remaining signatures.

And both of them made you scoff just a touch – for they suited their owners flawlessly. Mettaton was positively sultry, the tones sweeping and dramatic; but not deep in the least. In fact, they had a definite tenor tonality; and every-so-often, the sweeps seemed to spark, or perhaps the correct term was….trill? In any case, it had an air of confidence; though if you looked just a touch below that, the sound was….surprisingly tender. A deeper tone that followed along with the trills and sweeps, subtly hidden just under the surface.

Undyne was as loud and boisterous as she acted, fast and precise – undeniably dangerous, too. But the sound oddly also gave you a strange sense of…. _bravery_. But not the kind of grim bravery you’d expect on, say, a battlefield – it was a positive, bouncy bravery, the kind that would encourage you to roar in the face of challenges and push on.

Yes, it suited them perfectly.

“S-so? C-can you hear us a-all?”

You shook yourself slightly, bringing your mind back into the here and now. Everyone seemed to be on the edge of their seats, several sets of eyes watching you eagerly; you couldn’t help but chuckle, your cheeks flushing – you sincerely hoped that you didn’t make a strange expression when you were in ‘the zone’, so to speak.

“Yeah. I can hear everyone – though I’ve got to say, it’s….a little confusing. Are you sure that it’s going to become a less….loud?”

You receive various levels of laughter from your audience, and you flush a little more, puffing out an indignant breath.

“Like I said, bud, it’ll get much easier – second nature and all that jazz.”

“Yeah, you’ll be fine punk. Now you’ll be able to learn how to control magic so you can bust open that barrier! Fuhuhu!”

“O-one step at a t-time, Undyne.”

Undyne chuckled, affectionately patting Alphys on the head, leaving the small lizard spluttering, her face lighting up – which is when another puzzle piece slid into place.

The sleepover – Alphys saying that the person she liked wouldn’t be someone you’d meet. Mettaton teasing her, clearly knowing the identity of this ‘mystery monster’. And there was the fact that said monster was female. Add that into her blushing and being flustered even more than usual, well...who else could it be? You found yourself smiling a little wider, a little smugger, which Alphys seemed to pick up on immediately, her eyes narrowing at you; she knew that you knew, and was begging you to keep quiet about it.

You winked, leaving her to let out a soft sigh of relief.

“Still, sister! It is wonderful that you’ve learnt this ability in such a short space of time!”

Your attention snapped away from Alphys’ love life, as you smiled warmly at Papyrus, nodding ever so slightly; and it was wonderful, really. Alien, yes, but the humming sounds and sweeping melodies were quite nice to listen to, and they filled you with the emotions and essences that were your friends.

Still, it did make you think of the future – what if you really were a mage? If you could actually do…. _magic_? What would that even mean? You knew that you’d made jokes with Sans about chucking around fire-balls, but that was really all you had to go on, when the word ‘mage’ came to mind – that and wearing a pointy hat, of course.

And then, there was the notion of time.

How long would it take for you to control any abilities you might posses?

 

And….would Undyne be patient enough to wait?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus, you sweet bean, spaghetti truly is the best way to a fish monster's heart~  
> ALSO LOOK. LOOK! LOOK AT THIS BEAUTIFUL FANART DONE BY THE LOVELY JAZPERBLEU OH MY GOD
> 
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/178771389021/was-in-the-mood-for-reading-and-read-the-same
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	55. Card Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we play a little game...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

“Urgh, Papyrus, Battleship’s _lame_. I mean, there’s no freakin’ battles in it _at all!_ ”

“On the contrary, Undyne! It is a battle of wills, and chance!”

“NGAAH! Where’s the _passion_ of battle in a piece of cardboard?! Besides, you know that I hate puzzles.”

“U-unless they h-have lasers.”

Undyne grinned over at Alphys in clear approval, leaving the lizard monster to blush furiously – and for a split second, you swore that you could see the faintest of blushes appearing on Undyne’s cheeks as well; you hid a smile, hoping that your suspicions were correct.

“Damn straight. ‘cause they have _passion_!”

“I’m not sure that lasers can be passionate – I mean, painful, sure, but not passionate.”

“Fuhuhu, they’re exciting, punk.”

“...ok, yeah, I can agree with you there. But, uh, what do lasers have to do with anything, anyway?”

“...oh! U-Undyne helped me c-create some p-puzzles for H-Hotland.”

“Oh, cool – I’ve not explored Hotland yet, so I’ve not seen any….actually, if they have lasers, might not be the best idea….”

Sans chuckled, rolling his eye-lights a little at your words.

“Heh, better safe than sorry, bud – just be _lazy_ like me, much safer.”

There’s a short beat of silence, before the room erupts into various groans and chuckles – you elbow his side, looking mildly offended.

“That was, I must say, one of your worst. I’m actually disappointed in you.”

Sans hangs his head in shame, despite not looking sorry in the least; you snorted, rolling your eyes with a shake of your head.

“Anyway, I’ve gotta solution to this argument – y/n already came with some games for us this evening.”

All eyes are instantly on you, and you gulped, hoping that you wouldn’t be the target of Undyne’s loud disappointment next.

“Oh, uh, well, there’s this card game I know-”

Your words instantly speed up upon seeing Undyne’s expression begin to drop.

“-which is a little like truth or dare?”

You heave out a sigh of relief as she immediately grinned, Sans patting you on the back comfortingly.

“HELL YEAH! Now, _that’s_ what I’m talking about!”

“Oh, but darling, I’m not sure how well alcohol will agree with my circuits – we’ve not tested it yet.”

“Don’t worry about it – not everyone likes drinking, so booze doesn’t need to be involved.”

Papyrus smiled over at you gratefully, while Undyne looks a little put out, but definitely not any less excited over the game – you mentally thanked whichever gods on high were watching over you for their mercy.

“So, what are the rules, y/n?”

“….I literally explained them to you just before everyone arrived, Sans.”

Sans put on an obviously faked confused expression, his sockets widening with forced innocence while you narrowed your eyes at him – before you sighed, conceding to his ‘subtle’ manipulation.

“Ok, well, like I said, it’s basically truth or dare – except it’s anonymous. The person who gets dealt the king gets to think of the dare….but they don’t know who they’re daring. For instance, I could say that the person holding a seven had to do a headstand, but I wouldn’t know who that person was.”

Undyne’s grin had seemingly widened the longer your explanation had gone on; you were a little worried that her cheeks would start to split.

“Yes! YES. See, Papyrus, now THAT is a game of chance!”

“….I mean, technically it’s the same kind of guessing as Battleship-”

“NGAHH! LET’S JUST PLAY ALREADY!”

You giggled at her impatience – the longer you spent around her, the less you feared her. Well, no, ok, she still intimidated the hell out of you, but you figured that would fade in time, as you were starting to find her more endearing than anything else.

As you went to dig a deck of cards out from the gaming drawer, everyone seemed to take the initiative to sit in a circle; pretty traditional, but you weren’t complaining. Humming to yourself, you fished out the cards you needed – one king, and the five others; you select diamonds, attracted as ever by the star-like shape.

Shuffling the small pile, you join the circle, sitting cross-legged between Papyrus and Alphys as you laid out the cards in the centre.

“Ok then. Well, you probably know what comes next – everyone pick a card.”

Undyne all but leapt on the pile, quickly swiping up a card before you’d even finished your sentence, giggling all the while; you were happy that your suggestion seemed to be going down so well. The rest of the cards were selected a little more politely, and you were left with the ace.

“Right – so who’s the king?”

Papyrus chuckled, waving the king with a bright smile in Undyne’s direction; if you didn’t know any better, you’d assume that he was teasing her….no, come to think of it, that was more than likely, and it seemed that Undyne seconded your thoughts as she narrowed her eye at him with a scowl.

“Ah-ha! Well, it seems that I have the opportunity of choosing the first dare!”

“Live it up while you can, twerp.”

Papyrus practically smirked at that, his expression saying that he’d be more than happy to do so, and you couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped you as a result.

“Alright then….I dare the holder of the 5 to utter their greatest wish in life!”

“Papyrus you weenie, that’s not a dare!”

Papyrus merely waved the king card in her direction as an answer; this time Sans snorted along with you, while Undyne huffed in an irritated tone, rolling her eye.

“So who’s the holder of the 5?”

“That’d be me, bro.”

Everyone turned to watch Sans expectantly as he considered for a moment, his eye-lights travelling the ceiling as he hummed in thought.

“My greatest wish in life, eh…..well, that’s pretty easy. I wish to be crowned as the legendary pun master that I am, of course.”

You instantly started to giggle at his dead-panned smile as Papyrus huffed angrily, gloved hands clenching.

“Sans! This was meant to be serious!”

“I’m perfectly serious, bro.”

“Brother, that cannot be your driving force in life!”

Sans merely shrugged, his eye-lights travelling over to you for a fraction of a second – but when he noticed that you were looking, he smiled, throwing you a wink.

“So, w-what now?”

“...oh! The king re-shuffles. And I should mention – you can dare more than one person. You know, like getting the person holding an ace to poke the person holding a five, or something.”

Undyne grinned even wider at that, her sharp teeth seeming to become even sharper, and you instantly regretted informing her of that particular rule. But it was too late at that point – Papyrus was already re-shuffling the tiny pile, sockets furrowed in concentration, before he laid them out with a satisfied grin.

“You may make your selections now!”

Undyne immediately leaps in again – and you feel your regret increase ten-fold as she cackles victoriously, holding the king aloft.

“YES! In your FACES!”

Rolling your eyes, you select your card; this time it was a three.

“Right, now _this_ is how you dare someone, Papyrus! I dare number three to swap clothes with the ace!”

You winced, mentally kicking yourself once more – though it wasn’t too bad of a dare, to be honest. You flip your card around, looking around expectantly; before letting out an almost Undyne style chortle upon seeing who was holding the ace.

“Welp, can’t say that I have a _vested_ interest in this.”

Papyrus groaned, lowering his face into his gloved hands (even though you could see his evident smile), while Undyne scowled in Sans’ general direction. He waved his hands in calming motions, standing up while you followed; before he looked you over with a slight frown. You glanced down at your ensemble, before gazing back at him with a slightly hurt expression – you’d thought your dark jeans and over-sized black sweater looked pretty good.

“Got a problem – I, uh….I don’t think I’m gonna fit her jeans. Might rip ‘em if I try.”

Your mood instantly picked back up as you wheezed at the image, while Undyne rolled her eye with a disappointed grumble.

“Urgh, why do humans have to be so damn tiny?! Fine, just swap shirts.”

You yelped as Sans grabbed you by the waist without another word; and suddenly you were standing in your room. You frowned at him, aiming a poke in his side for spooking you once again – which landed, much to your astonishment, causing him to let out an attractive squeak of his own.

“Hey, what was that for?”

“You spooked me! Again!”

He chuckled, rolling his eye-lights, before a thoughtful expression took over his face.

“Uh, so….how we doing this?”

Your face almost immediately lit up as your mind did an instant sky-dive into the gutter, before you coughed a little, shaking your head.

“Ah, uh, I guess we just change back to back and exchange?”

“Sounds reasonable. Want the hoodie too?”

Your eager expression must have answered him for you, as he let out a gentle puff of laughter, his grin widening.

“What? It’s really comfy! You can’t blame me.”

“No, can’t say that I can. ‘kay, let’s do this then.”

He turns, hands already travelling down his body to rid himself of his clothes; you quickly swivel on your heel, face burning as you slowly peeled off your sweater – then you held it out vaguely behind you. After a while of standing like this, however, you arm started to get sore.

“...Sans? You almost done?”

“...y-yeah sure, almost.”

Not a second later, your jumper is swiped out of your hand and quickly replaced with Sans’ usual white shirt and hoodie, leaving you to frown a little as you pulled them on (though admittedly you weren’t frowning for very long; his scent was just too pleasant to ignore) – what had taken him so long? Sure, he had one more article of clothing than you did, but it shouldn’t have taken him _that_ long.

You shrugged your thoughts away, wiggling with a slightly satisfied sigh against your ‘new’ articles of clothing – why were his clothes so soft? Old age, perhaps?

“Sans, you almost done?”

“Yup – have been for a while, bud. Turn on three?”

You giggled, rolling your eyes as you counted dramatically with him, before sweeping your body around and posing, just as dramatically (Mettaton eat your heart out). And much to your amusement, it seemed that he’d had the same idea as you; before long, the two of you were giggling like maniacs – though not really at the altered clothing, considering you hadn’t been wearing anything particularly feminine (even if Sans’ shirt was pretty big on you, more like a short dress that a t-shirt).

“Heh, gotta say that it suits you, y/n.”

“Why thank you. Seeing you in something other than your hoodie is a little unsettling, though.”

He shrugs, shifting around in your sweater for a moment thoughtfully.

“Eh, it could grow on me. Still, nothing beats the classic ensemble.”

You smirked, flicking up the hood – before spluttering a little as the faux fur of said hood hit you right in the eyes. Sans chuckled softly at your distress, carefully lifting the hood so it wasn’t obscuring your face so much; you hadn’t known that it would be _that_ oversized.

“Careful there, not sure if Undyne’s got any spare eye-patches.”

You gaped at him in shock, while he sputtered out a laugh at your expression.

“What, too dark?”

Little did he know, of course, you were actually shocked by the fact he was more or less holding your face in his hands to keep his hood from continuing to fall into your eyes, thumbs caressing the edges of your jaw – but you forced out a laugh anyway.

“Heh, I, uh….don’t let her hear you, I guess.”

“Pffft, I say this kind of crap in front of her all the time, bud.”

“….how are you not a skeleton shish-kebab by now?”

He snorted, pushing the hood completely off your head to save you from any potential blindness.

“I’m good at dodging. Plus the ‘porting thing helps.”

“I can imagine.”

“On the subject of ‘porting….”

You manage to swallow your surprised squeak this time as the two of you re-appear in the living room – not that it would have mattered much, considering the fact that everyone else seemed to jump in surprise upon seeing you.

Once everyone recovered, Undyne instantly frowned, disappointment clear on her fierce features.

“Oh man, that’s so lame! Why weren’t you wearing a tank top or something, punk?”

“Mainly due it to being so cold in Snowdin.”

“….oh right. Yeah, that makes sense.”

You snort, re-taking your seat as Sans did the same, seeming to be perfectly comfortable in your sweater for the time being (though you did catch the occasional longing stare in your direction). Undyne re-shuffled impatiently, all but throwing the pile back into the centre, before looking around the circle with an almost fiery glare.

“...well, what are you waiting for?!”

There’s a short pause, before Alphys hesitantly reaches in, picking up her selection – Undyne looks on with an almost proud gaze, and you could understand why, given Alphys’ anxious nature; but you could feel your grin stretching upon noticing the fish monster’s faint blush was present once more. Shoving those thoughts to one side, you reach in for your own card, while the others do the same – you now held the two.

“O-oh! It’s m-me!”

You found yourself smiling once again as Alphys held the king aloft, her expression slightly mischievous as she considered her options.

“O-ok…..I d-dare the person h-holding the 4 t-to….sit in t-the lap of the p-p-person holding the 5 for t-two turns!”

She covers her mouth with her claws after uttering her dare, giggling and snorting at the chaos she’d put into motion. The room is silent for a moment as everyone eyed one another – before Mettaton let out a dramatic sigh and revealed the 4.

“So who’s the lucky monster – or human, sorry gorgeous – who’ll have me sat with them for a while, hmm?”

Again, the room is deathly silent, and you looked around with a frown for a while; until your eyes landed on the obviously blushing Papyrus, as he slowly turned his card around. At that point, you’d expected Mettaton to strut over in his usual confident fashion (and subsequently be punched by Sans, no doubt), but felt enormous surprise as his face lit up just as much as Papyrus’ had, his words coming out in stutters.

“O-oh! W-well, oh my, now i-isn’t that something.”

He gulps, standing up carefully and slowly, making his way over to Papyrus, his eyes glued to the carpet all the while (you glared pointedly in Sans’ direction at this point to ensure he wouldn’t try to dismantle him, but he honestly looked just as surprised by Mettaton’s reaction as you felt). Eventually, he was stood in front of the sitting Papyrus, neither one looking at each-other, before Undyne coughed pointedly.

“*hack* Get on with it *hack* nerds.”

Mettaton let out an indignant huff, sitting at the same time that Papyrus unravelled himself from sitting cross-legged; which resulted in Mettaton ending up sat between his legs, and a lot closer than either party had intended, given the shell-shocked expressions.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d almost think that Mettaton…. _liked_ him. Sure, he’d mentioned that he’d liked someone at the sleepover, but he’d always flirted with everyone – but that said, you’d never seen him blush as much as he did around Papyrus. And of course, it was already a given that Papyrus adored the metallic star – hell, it wouldn’t surprise you if he had a poster that he kissed every night, or something.

It was….a surprise, to say the least. If something were to happen between them, however, you’re not sure how Sans would take it, considering his general distaste for the glitter addict.

Alphys however, seemed simply overjoyed at the results of her dare, with Undyne joining her as they giggled at the blushing couple.

“O-ok, I’ll r-reshuffle now!”

“But darling, how is….how are w-we…..supposed to get our cards like _this_?”

“Simple nerd. You move, get two cards, then….slowly leeeeaan back to give Papyrus his, yeah?”

Sans’ brotherly protection finally re-appeared at this point as he pointedly glared over in warning at the Guard Captain, who chortled.

“Pffft, relax, bone-boy.”

“Heh, sorry ‘dyne. Might be in _shark_ over here.”

Her eyes instantly narrowed on him as his smile stretched wider, leaving Alphys to nervously shuffle in the cards in the background.

“Really, Sans?”

“Oh, man, my bad – forgot that you _hake_ me making fish jokes. Yeah, you’re right, that was pretty _carp_ of me – no need to get _snapper_ _-y_ with me.”

Undyne just glared in his general direction as he smirked, his expression decidedly smug, clearly proud of his punning prowess.

“C’mon Sans – can’t you _sea_ that she’s not feeling it?”

All eyes instantly turned on you as you realised what you’d just done.

“...heh, sorry, that just kind of…. _flippered_ out?”

 

_Go big or go home, I guess!_

 

But thankfully today would not be your day of reckoning, as Undyne merely groaned, face-palming while Sans snorted with laughter at your additions.

“Grrrreeeaaat, now there’s _two_ of them! Yeesh, I feel for you, Papyrus, I really do.”

By this point, Alphys had just about carefully placed the cards back in the centre, leaving her to squeak softly in surprise when Undyne swiped up her card from the pile, everyone following suit (you pointedly look away from Mettaton and Papyrus at this point, not wishing to embarrass them further; Sans, however, didn’t seem to get the memo, given his pointed warning glare in Mettaton’s direction) – your eyes widen, noticing that you had been dealt the king.

You held it aloft with a grin, before falling short as you realised that you didn’t even have a dare in mind.

“I, uh….urm….I dare the person holding the 5 to….do a headstand!”

Undyne instantly chortles, standing up and flinging down her card.

“Pffft, I can do better than that, nerd! NGAHH!”

She all but jumps into a headstand – before tucking one of her hands behind her back, starting to do upside-down push ups, grinning manically all the while. You applaud when she eventually lands on her feet, leaving her to roll her eye, muttering something along the lines of ‘pansy’, with a fond smile. That is, before she seemed to realise something, quickly whipping out her phone – then groaning loudly.

“URGH!”

“What’s up?”

“So freakin’ lame, I didn’t realise it was this late – sorry, gotta cut this game short. **Y/n**!”

You jolted, eyes widening in slight terror as she glared in your direction – you nodded sharply in answer. She stepped a little closer, and you resisted the urge to back away.

“You better be at my freakin’ house tomorrow at 12 for your piano lesson, or I’m pelting your ass with snowballs. Fuhuhuhu.”

You let out a slightly relieved breath, chuckling nervously as you nodded.

“And Papyrus! Get your ass to bed, you’re gonna be up training bright and early in the morning!”

“...oh, yes, Captain Undyne!”

He struggled for a moment, eventually separating himself from the tangle of limbs he and Mettaton had become before scrambling up the stairs with hurried farewells.

The other farewells are a little slower; though it seemed that Undyne got a bit impatient with the slowness, as she ended up scooping up both Alphys and Mettaton, before running out into the snowy night with them, cackling all the while.

You let out a slightly relieved sigh as the house once again falls into sweet silence, picking up the abandoned cards from the floor, sliding them carefully back into the deck.

“….hey.”

You look over to Sans with some surprise, seeing him shift a little nervously in place.

“...oh! Oh, I’m sorry, I promise I’ll be out of your stuff in a sec, just gonna change into my pj’s and-”

“N-no, it’s not that. Just….heh, if you’re not too tired….it’s still _Saturday_ , y’know?”

You pause for a moment, thinking on his words, before your eyes widen with understanding.

“Oh! Oh, so it is. Um, no, I’m not too tired. Are you?”

“Heh, wouldn’t have reminded you otherwise.”

You examined him with a slightly sarcastic raised eye-brow, given the fact he clearly hadn’t slept well in your absence; he winced under your scrutiny, letting out a nervous chuckle.

“Heh, ok, fair point. But I’m good - ‘sides, I’ll just owe you another one on top of the two you’ve already got if we miss this.”

“….well, ok, uh, want to do this when we’re ready for bed, though? Unless you’d prefer for me to keep your hoodie, that is.”

“….you’d like that, wouldn’t you.”

“….not going to lie and say that I wouldn’t.”

He snorted, shaking his head.

“Sorry bud, it’s kind of my signature outfit.”

“Only because you wear it all the time.”

“Like I said, my signature outfit. So, uh….we’ll do this upstairs before we sleep?”

“Yeah, sure. Unless you’d prefer the couch?”

“Nah, upstairs is good.”

You giggled at his obvious discomfort, making your way into the bathroom for your nightly routine as your mind wandered.

Thankfully, the evening had gone pretty well – hell, Undyne even wanted you at her house willingly tomorrow (unless this was all an elaborate plot to get back at you for daring to pun in her general direction, in which case you were decidedly screwed). And you found that you were actually looking forward to your piano lesson, and getting to know her a little better away from everyone else – you just hoped that it would go as well as this evening had.

 

Now, all you had to do was think of what questions you’d be able to ask Sans that he wouldn’t immediately turn down…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> QUESTION TIME WITH SNAS YEH
> 
> ALSO MORE GORGEOUS FANART BWAAAAHH I LOVE IT T-T This one's from the gorgeous @HibernalBeast  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/178948857951/hibernalbeast-fanart-time-a-thing-for
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	56. A Series Of Questions And….Answers?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally have a special Saturday....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

You huffed softly to yourself as you made your way up the staircase, Sans’ borrowed shirt and hoodie held carefully in your hands as you worried over what you were going to ask.

From the moment you’d fallen into the Underground, it seemed as if you’d had nothing but questions – and very little answers. So the prospect of actually having information for a change was a little daunting, you had to admit (even if a large part of you was singing with relief).

Then there was the limit on the questions that you were actually allowed to ask. It was obvious that anything to do with your soul tugging was a no go area, which probably meant that asking anything about what result Sans was looking for with the next test would also be off limits.

But what about asking about Sans’ past? You personally didn’t feel all that comfortable with the idea – it almost seemed like you were forcing him to open up, which wasn’t really going to help either of you. He should want to talk about such things when he was ready to, not because you demanded him to. After all, nothing in his past had anything to do with you in the first place; no, you had no right to know unless he wanted you to know.

So what did that leave? There were plenty of subjects in the Underground that you were curious about – subjects about magic in general, and then of course there were things that were a little more serious.

For instance, you could try to ask him what this ‘Angel’ thing was.

You filed that as a definite possibility – true, you could just go to library, and you probably would, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask him.

Then of course, there were the questions that were a little….well, _questionable._ Things that you’d restrained yourself from asking in past in an effort not to look too silly (and to avoid being teased to death by Sans). For instance: you were already more than aware that Papyrus’ spine was constantly on show, but did that mean that Sans….looked like that under his clothes? It was something that had always puzzled you, considering the fact that whenever he hugged you, his magic was clearly creating some sort of layer, as it did with his hands. That, and it seemed that you could never tell with monsters, regarding their bodies – Sans and Papyrus were brothers, but their appearances were hugely different.

Then of course, there was the serious issue of Asgore – you had no idea what the guy was like; you only had some vague facts about his family’s past and the obvious hunt for human souls. But what you really wanted to know was his _personality_. Sure, it’d be much easier for you if he was some sort of evil tyrant hiding in a castle, but given Toriel’s behaviour and the peaceful state of the Underground, it clearly wasn’t as simple as that.

But you could only ask two questions this time around. And then another next week, unless Sans changed his mind in a that space time.

You sighed heavily, opening the door to your shared bedroom and blinking in surprise upon finding that he wasn’t there. Frowning, you walked into the room, setting his clothes on the end of the bed.

Had he chickened out on you?

You’re just about to stomp off to his bedroom to start your search when he popped into existence next to you – you both make vague shrieking noises, staring at each-other for a moment before breaking into slightly hysterical giggles.

“Sans, seriously, you’re going to be the death of me.”

He frowned heavily at the saying, clearly displeased by it.

“Relax – just a weird human turn of phrase.”

“….I swear, humans are a hell of a lot more morbid than monsters seem to be.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes slightly, even if you did agree with him on some level. You then quirked a brow, seeing that he’d changed out of your sweater and into….a normal, very Sans-esque white shirt.

“….you seriously have duplicates of the same outfit…?”

Sans blinked confusedly at you for a moment, before realising you meant his shirt, sending him into surprised laughter.

“Oh….pfft…..no, bud, I honestly just grabbed another white shirt by mistake.”

“I’m not buying it!”

“It’s true!”

“Come back to me in a different outfit for once and we’ll talk then. Anyways, your clothes are over there.”

“Thanks.”

“….and my sweater is….where?”

His expression looked oddly awkward for a split second, before he let out another chuckle.

“I’ve put it in the wash. Kinda got a bit of ketchup on it.”

You pouted at him, hoping that said ketchup didn’t stain it.

“Well, ok then, thanks I guess. You, uh…..ready for this?”

He grinned, leaning back on his heels slightly, brow-bone waggling suggestively; all which earned him a well aimed poke to the side, leaving him gasping, holding his hands up in defeat.

“Ok, ok! Yup, I’m ready. Let’s go get comfy, ‘kay?”

You turn on your heel without another word, leaping onto the bed with abandon and snuggling down; your day had been pretty stressful, all things considered, so you were more than happy to be back in your bed. As Sans joined you, it occurred to you that you’d only been back a day, and all ready it’d been a pretty dramatic return.

“….how are you feeling, by the way?”

Sans’ eye-lights travelled over to you curiously, brow-bone raised in question.

“You know. Earlier.”

He smirked, leaning back into the pillows.

“You want that to be one of your questions?”

You scowled, mirroring his actions with a challenging air.

“Why? Want that to be one of yours?”

He chuckled, sticking out his tongue at you as an answer, before letting out a soft sigh.

“….yeah, I’m ok. Honestly, what you did….really helped. I mean, don’t know how you did it, but….it helped.”

“...so what I did wasn’t a usual thing?…..not one of my questions, by the way.”

He chuckled at that a little, before thinking on your ‘normal’ question carefully – it was obvious that he was selecting his words with care, so perhaps the answer had something to do with a prohibited subject?

“...well, it’s not usual for most monsters, no. But what I meant was that I was surprised that you’d be able to do it at all, considering you’ve only just started to notice magic signatures.”

You hummed, tapping your nails gently against the surface of the covers. Sans watched the movement for a moment, before he heaved a hearty sigh, drawing your attention back to him.

“So….you wanna go first, or…?”

Now it was your turn to think carefully; before you decided to come out with what you considered the most important, given your earlier options.

“What’s Asgore like?”

Sans blinked, mute surprise on his features.

“...wait, you’re picking _that_ for your question?”

“Well, one of them, anyway. I mean, I just….I’ve heard a lot of bad stuff about the guy, but not what he’s actually like. And it’s not like I can ask Tori about it.”

Sans merely chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I feel like I got off the hook easy here.”

“Well, I can always think up something much meaner, if you want?”

You got a poke to the cheek for that, leaving you giggling as he plastered on a clearly fake disapproving expression.

“Buddy, you can’t just go back on your choice like that. Nope, you chose your bed, now you gotta lie in it.”

“More than happy to, it’s damn comfy – so, do I get an answer?”

“Sure you do. Well, honestly? Asgore’s….a pretty nice guy. Big, fluffy, and has an obsession for gardening and tea. And uh….not gonna lie, the guy’s pretty depressed.”

“Understandable, but….”

“….with the human killing thing? I don’t know bud, that’s a question you’d have to ask him yourself – but in my opinion, he regrets the whole thing. But he keeps going because he thinks that he has to.”

You sighed, brow knotting in concern.

“….I feel sorry for him. Even though he’d more than likely kill me on sight, I….he’s been through a lot, hasn’t he?”

Sans growled, and you looked up at him in surprise.

“Don’t feel sorry for him, y/n. That guy _chose_ this path – sure, he might regret it, but he made that choice, and he hasn’t tried to go back on it.”

“But he felt an obligation to his kingdom, right? And then there was the whole thing with his kids-”

“Yeah, sure – but did you see Tori doing the same?”

You sighed, shaking your head after a moment.

“Exactly. So don’t feel bad for him, especially not if he insists on continuing.”

“But what if we do find another method? Then…..then he _won’t_ have to continue.”

“Yeah, he won’t. But that won’t wash the blood off his hands, either.”

You shuddered slightly, your mind instantly summoning dark images at his words.

“….so he’s a nice guy, who’s made stupid choices, in short?”

“Basically. But just ‘cause he’s nice, doesn’t make him a push over, not by a long shot. He’s the king for a reason – one of the most powerful monsters in the Underground.”

You shivered delicately, snuggling into the bedclothes a little more; Sans looks over in concern for a moment, but you quickly wave him off.

“I’m ok, not cold, just….heh, guess my mind’s my worst enemy on this subject.”

Sans chuckled humourlessly, rolling over to examine your features a little more.

“Well then, allow me to distract you with one of my questions.”

“As long as you’re done speaking about Asgore?”

“Yeah, that’s basically the guy in summery – I can always go over more info later if you need it.”

You nodded, satisfied with his answer as you waited nervously for him to take his turn. He looked at you seriously for a moment, before wriggling a little closer; but before you could ask what he was doing, he was already talking.

“You’ve said before that you climbed the mountain to ‘be happy’. But what I want to know is what happened the day that you decided to climb – in detail, if that’s ok.”

You winced slightly, knowing that he’d specified ‘detail’ due to your habit of skirting over such things.

“Oh, uh, ok then….well, I’ll need to fill you in on some other info first. See, up on the surface I was pretty poor thanks to, uh, certain circumstances-”

“What circumstances?”

You wince once again, before looking at him with a slightly mischievous smile.

“You want that to be your second question? I mean, I haven’t even answered the fir-”

“Yup. If that’s ok, of course.”

You study the covers under you fingers for a moment, before nodding.

“...yeah, ok. I’m actually….an orphan. Never knew my parents. Mother died in childbirth, and my dad killed himself not too soon after. And that, uh, didn’t leave me much fund wise when I was finally classed as an ‘adult’ - just enough to get started, but they obviously weren’t rich people themselves, heh.”

The room is deathly silent for a long moment, before you squeaked slightly as he put his hand over yours, squeezing tightly.

“….m’sorry, bud.”

“It’s ok, I mean….I never knew them.”

“….can’t have been an easy way to grow up.”

“...well, from what I’ve heard, you’ve not had an easy time of it yourself. But still. I’m….I’m ok.”

Sans watched you carefully for a beat, before letting out the softest of sighs, withdrawing his hand from yours.

“...ok, we know about your ‘certain circumstances’ now. So you were saying?”

“Right. So thanks to having low funds, I wasn’t allowed to be picky when it came to my job, or where I lived – in fact, my entire apartment was….around the size of this room? Actually, that’s probably being generous, come to think of it.”

Sans’ sockets widened as he did a quick once over of said room, letting out a soft whistle, but otherwise not interrupting you.

“As for jobs, I’ve had plenty – always had to leap from one to another. And sadly, ended up accepting a really shitty one out of desperation – I was working for a sketchy insurance company, selling said sketchy insurance, then dealing with the fallout.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Certainly was – but it gets better, my friend. The woman who owned my apartment was, uh, pretty delightful – took great joy at screaming at me every morning and evening over every creak I made in my apartment. But what I didn’t know was that she was the grandmother of my current boss at the time. Aaand it appears that being a generally nice person runs in their family – my ex boss was….uh….”

You faltered for a moment, shaking your head a little.

“...I’ll get to that. Anyway, that day started out pretty normal, got up, Mrs. Beaworthy yelled at me, and I went to work – but when I got there, Mr. McFarlen…..or Ross, but whatever…..wanted me to come into his office after I’d finished my shift for the day.”

You hesitated for another moment, and Sans looked at you curiously, but stayed quiet as he studied you, clearly waiting for you to gather yourself.

“…..and he wanted to….uh….wanted me to perform a certain ‘favour’ for him so that he’d let me keep my job.”

Sans had instantly stilled when you uttered that particular phrase, his eye-lights dimming just a touch.

“...what kind of ‘favour’?”

“...I think you know what kind.”

“….you’re telling me that the guy was going to _force_ you to sleep with him, just to keep your job?”

You gulped, looking away from him as you nodded. After a moment, you heard him let out a long exhale, as if he was trying to calm himself down – no, you _knew_ that he was trying to calm himself down, given the sudden spike of noise his soul had let out as you confirmed what kind of a person McFarlen was; without even thinking, you sent across a pleasant memory of the scents of various flowers in summer heat. Sans appeared to freeze for a second, before chuckling – and before you were even aware of what was going on, he’d suddenly tugged you closer, leaving you to stare up at him wide-eyed as he smirked down at you, clearly amused by your flustered expression.

“Heh, thanks bud, but I’m ok this time.”

“I’m sorry, I, uh, didn’t even think about it – it was just, um, automatic?”

He chuckled softly, a soft blush erupting over his cheekbones.

“...automatic, eh? Welp, in any case...”

You felt his soul flare angrily again as his expression darkened.

“….heh, didn’t think I’d have myself a hit-list before getting to the surface, but looks like I do. I’m….I’m sorry that you had to put up with trash like that.”

You laughed nervously, pushing his chest a little as you attempted to wriggle away and make light of the subject – but his arms were vices around you as his eye-lights blazed down upon you.

“….he doesn’t deserve to get away with that, y/n.”

“I got away, though! Even gave a dramatic refusal speech – he looked like he was going to explode, went purple and everything.”

Sans snorted at that particular image, and you inwardly heave a sigh of relief that your plan to lighten the subject had worked some.

“...I already know that humans can’t explode like that, don’t worry.”

“….well, _actually-_ ”

Sans groaned, his eye-lights narrowing down as he went to cover your mouth as you openly laughed; before freezing up a little as it occurred to you that he was still holding you close.

 

_Is the universe trying to actively torture me?!_

 

“A-anyway, he fired me. Or, I fired myself? Still, I walked out, and headed for home – where I was going to go over all my back-up plans, but when I got there-”

“Let me guess. She threw you out?”

“She did indeed. Which is when I basically, uh…..well, I’d always loved looking at the mountain, and always wanted to explore it, so…..I just decided that I’d give up on society and live in the woods?”

You laughed awkwardly, attempting to squirm away again, only to be stopped by Sans’ unmoving arms once again – you gave up, knowing that you’d never match up to his strength, and as he was conscious, it was obvious that he didn’t plan to let you go just yet.

“...which is what I did. Well, it’s what I planned, anyway. But then I….”

You blinked, mentally kicking yourself for almost mentioning Gaster, before you continued.

“….I found a cave. And the cave had a hole. Which I stupidly fell down – and the rest is history.”

Sans sighed, his exhale softly fluttering against your skin.

“Yup, certainly is. Well, as you know, I’ve officially used up my questions for this week – so that leaves you.”

“It certainly does. Right, well...”

You could ask about the Angel, but already figured that it’d be easy to research it. Which left your embarrassing questions – which (and you smiled evilly at this thought, leaving Sans to give you a slightly uncomfortable frown) could work to your advantage. After all, what better way to get him off you? Embarrassing him would _surely_ work!

 

“...what do you look like under your shirt?”

 

His face instantly lit up with the most extreme blush you’d seen from him yet, his mouth hanging open in surprise – but much to your chagrin, he didn’t let you go. No matter, you had more aces up your sleeve.

“What? You gonna back out on me on this one?”

He huffed, narrowing his sockets at you.

“….why that question?”

“Well, uh, Paps walks around with his…. _midriff?_ ”

Sans snorted loudly at that, his laughter now bringing an embarrassed flush to your cheeks as well as his own.

“Urgh. Point is, he walks around with his spine on show, and you always feel like you have a body under there, and yes, I _know_ I’ve kind of asked this before, but you’ve always answered with-”

“-’I’m just bare bones’? Heh, bud, that’s because it’s true – I’m built just the same as Paps is. Nothing too exciting.”

“But….but, if say, I were to touch you without a s-shirt on, would that body still be there, or is it just a thing that happens where you’re in clothing?”

Sans’ brow puckered, clearly having to think on that one – before he shrugged, cat-like smile in place.

“Dunno.”

“….what?!”

“Heh, honestly, I dunno. Never had to think about it before.”

You grumbled, very unsatisfied with that; which he clearly noted. Suddenly, his smirk spread wider, his eye-lights widening.

“….why, did you wanna check?”

You blinked, mouth opening in slight shock.

“W-what?”

“You heard me. Wanna check? ‘cept, uh, heh, gotta ask you not to touch my spine or anything like that – kinda ticklish.”

You gulped, wiggling in his grasp subconsciously. He chuckled, his smirk spreading wider still.

“I, uh…..I mean….. _sure?_ ”

His brow-bone raised at that, clearly not expecting that particular answer.

“...welp, ok then. Knock yourself out.”

He shifted away from you slightly, arms releasing you as he raised his shirt to his chin, leaving you to gape slightly as you saw that he wasn’t kidding in the least. All in all, he had all the traditional features that a human skeleton did; as in spine, ribcage – it was kind of startling to see the major lack of body, considering your habit of jabbing him in the side if he got too annoying. They were a lot thicker than normal human bones, however – obviously much sturdier. You had to admit that they were…..kind of beautiful, in a strange sense. They appeared to have the same almost iridescent sheen that the rest of his bones possessed, and part of his ribcage almost seemed to….glow, if you squinted hard. That was probably just your mind playing tricks on you, however. Probably scrambled by the idea of magical skeletons once again.

Gulping slightly, you reached out with a subtly shaking hand, gently poking at his midriff – before gasping as you hand went straight on through, leaving Sans to chuckle, albeit a little nervously. But what you did notice was that the second that you hand hit where his normal ‘body’ would be, your skin instantly erupted with a faint buzzing sensation, not all dissimilar to the feeling you got when he held your hand.

“….whoa. I think I’m….I think I can feel your magic.”

Sans’ sockets widened at that, his cheeks flushing.

“Wh-what?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s the same with your hands, just not as….powerful?”

“You can….you can _feel_ that?”

You look up with slight confusion, automatically withdrawing your hand upon seeing his incredulous shock, frowning in concern as you wondered if you’d done anything wrong.

“I….yeah? Am I not supposed to?”

He lets out a surprised laugh, his eye-light blown wide.

“….heh.”

He lowered his shirt, before forcefully tugging you close and tight to his body once again, making you let out a surprised squeak. He ignored your surprise however, favouring to instead smile like an idiot down at you as you looked up at him in complete and utter confusion.

“Well? Am I supposed to feel it, or not?!”

“….honestly? It’s kinda….really great that you can.”

“...it is?”

“Yup.”

“….aaaand that’s all you’re going to tell me, isn’t it.”

He snorted out a laugh, smile still spread wide across his face, before wiggling in even closer to you, resting his head atop yours, effectively shoving you into his chest.

“Yup.”

“….are you going to let me go?”

He practically started to giggle at that, and you rolled your eyes, relaxing as you accepted your fate.

 

“Well. Goodnight, I guess.”

“Heh. G’night, y/n.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. THE AGE OLD QUESTIONS HAS BEEN ANSWERED AT LAST. WHAT EXACTLY IS UNDER SNAS' SHURT.  
> ....you have Malenchka to thank for that last question. ;)
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	57. Appassionato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we wake up in a warm place....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

_You opened your eyes to the familiar darkness that was the Void with slight surprise; you’d fallen asleep shockingly fast, considering the fact that you had been a flustered mess in Sans’ arms….mind you, he was stupidly comfy, so perhaps it was no surprise that you’d fallen asleep as fast as you had._

_Still, his behaviour was a complete and utter mystery to you – not only did he flatly refuse to let you go, he’d started to giggle like a madman upon finding out that you could physically feel his magic. Why was that such a good thing? Still, it pleased you that you’d at least made him happy – and maybe he wanted you close to ensure that he wouldn’t have nightmares tonight. Yes, you’re sure that was it – after all, he looked as if he had slept as well as you had in your absence (which wasn’t well at all), so it made perfect sense that he’d want to ensure that he’d sleep well tonight._

_Nodding decidedly to yourself, you started to strain your eyes, looking for your friend Gaster._

“ _Dings? You here?”_

“ _Yes, my dear – in fact, I’ve been behind you for quite a while now. Seemed rude to interrupt you, as you were so deep in thought.”_

_You sighed, rolling your eyes, before slowly turning around to reveal Gaster in all his glory; who was at the present moment smirking at you as if he’d won a bet._

“… _.um? Something make you happy?”_

“ _I was watching your game tonight – it looked to be fun.”_

_You puffed, not buying his words for a moment._

“ _Oh right? Hm. Well, anyway, got a question for you.”_

“ _Is it regarding your new acknowledgement of magical signatures?”_

“ _Yup, certainly is. Thoughts, please?”_

_He chuckled at your obviously peeved tone, but still didn’t reveal the real reason why he was so happy – not that it bothered you that he was, of course, but your curiosity was just eating into you; you’re honestly surprised that you’re not riddled with holes like a swiss cheese by now, given all the unanswered questions you had._

“ _Well, if we are following along with the theory of your being a mage, then it would be perfectly normal – though, come to think of it, you’ve certainly come into it rather late...”_

“ _What do you mean?”_

“ _Well, mages….hm, it’s a little hard to explain this. When I was on the surface, mages seemed to come into their sensory abilities around puberty – then their other abilities would follow, though the latter didn’t seem to have a time limit, per say….a trigger point would be the correct term, in regards to that. But I digress….I just have to wonder why your abilities have arisen at this age.”_

“ _...maybe because the surface is more or less dead, magic wise?”_

“ _Not quite. It’s….it’s admittedly very quiet, but it’s still there, if you know what you’re looking for. And then it brings into question why the mages seemed to die out when the monsters were banished – yet, here you are.”_

“… _.maybe it’s something to do with monsters themselves?”_

“ _Perhaps. But then why did it take you this long to notice such things? You have, after all, been down here for quite some time.”_

“… _.I know this sounds weird, but does….being able to physically feel magic, like with….like with Sans….does it have something to do with sensing it in general?”_

_Gaster’s face instantly lit up at that, and he coughed, averting his eye-lights for a moment._

“ _Well, yes, I suppose it does.”_

_You frowned, wondering why on earth it was such a seemingly strange subject, before shaking your head and getting back to your point._

“ _Well, in that case….I’ve probably been sensing it for a while, without knowing it – I’ve been able to feel Sans’ magic from the start, as well as when Toriel first used healing magic on me – you know, when I first fell down? Just didn’t think too much on it at the time, since, well….magic skeleton and all? Bound to be some weirdness there.”_

_Gaster scoffed, giving you a droll look; that is, before his scientific curiosity arose once more._

“ _Fascinating. So you could have, in fact, been sensing magic without knowing it on the surface – is that your point?”_

“ _Yeah. Ignorance is bliss, as they say. Mind you, it’s not like I’ve ever heard the humming thing….but if I didn’t know what to look for, then it wouldn’t have been noticeable? I mean, I did pick it up pretty quick, so it was probably just underneath the surface this whole time.”_

“… _.you know, my dear, that might be why you were so attracted to Mt. Ebott in the first place – you could sense the magic underneath the surface, and you were drawn to it.”_

“ _Plus you know, the mountain’s kinda pretty.”_

_Gaster chuckled, waving a hand dismissively to keep the subject serious._

“ _But then, I suppose we must ask what your abilities will turn out to be, considering the uniqueness of your soul amongst other things.”_

“… _.like me being able to connect to the Void?”_

“ _Indeed. Dr. Alphys’ theory on your being able to break the barrier may not be as fanciful as most would assume – and if that scan on your general AT level was correct...”_

_You winced, still not exactly liking the idea, but you got his point._

“ _Yeah. Still, it’s a little….”_

“ _I understand completely, my dear. But as you will with your new senses, you will become accustomed to the idea – after all, you forget about your friends.”_

“ _How d’you mean?”_

“ _...think on it. They are all boss monsters, which would-”_

“ _What?! Wait, I thought you said that was rare?!”_

_Gaster chuckled deeply at your wide-eyed confusion, shaking his head as he patted your head comfortingly._

“ _My dear, it is rare, I did not lie to you – in fact, Asgore is the only other boss monster in the entire Underground. Still, this is not my point. My point is that they are all considerably powerful in terms of magic – and you are still in one piece, no?”_

_You snorted, rolling your eyes._

“ _Yeah, just about. But they’ve been practising magic use their entire lives! What if I explode by accident, just because-”_

“ _Do you really think that they will allow you to?”_

_You grow quiet, knowing that he was right, but still unable to push down your fears._

“… _.what if they **can’t** stop me?”_

_Gaster paused, before sighing and gently placing his hand atop your head._

“ _...my dear, did you forget? In terms of the soul, intent is everything. Now, do you honestly think you’d intentionally hurt anyone, without the need to?”_

“… _.no.”_

“ _Then put your worries at ease. All young monsters experience a lack of control concerning magic use to begin with – to think of it, you should ask…..your friends. I’m sure they’ll put your mind at rest.”_

_You smiled up at him, ignoring the dampening at the corners of your eyes._

“ _Thanks.”_

“ _No problem at all. Now – care to explain some of these ‘drinking games’ that you mentioned before?”_

 

_~_

 

You hummed happily in the back of your throat as you woke up – you’d slept amazingly well, and for a moment, you simply forgot _how_ you’d fallen asleep last night, as you began to snuggle into the toasty covers around you….only for said covers to groan quietly.

You instantly freeze, eyes wide as you looked up to see Sans looking down at you, a light blush dusting his cheek-bones. But thankfully, he didn’t look perturbed or anything by your movements – in fact, he looked incredibly _happy_ ; soft, sleepy smile and fuzzy eye-lights, all directed down on you.

“Heh, g’mornin’ bud. Sleep well?”

You gulped, before letting out a huff as you narrowed your eyes, attempting to squirm away from him so you could escape your embarrassment – no such luck, as he held you just as tight as he had last night, not even considering the idea of letting you go.

“Yes. I did, _thank you._ ”

He chuckled at your snappy tone, purposely blowing a puff of air into your face; which effectively froze your struggling, your mind shorting out momentarily as you processed his delicious scent.

 

_Now, that’s not fair – no bad morning breath?_

 

When you recovered, however, you scowled up at him, much to his amusement.

“What was that for?!”

“I couldn’t poke your cheek, so I settled for the next best thing.”

“You could always let me go so you could poke my cheek?”

He appeared to consider for a moment, before smirking down at you.

“Nah, I’m good. ‘sides, it seemed to work even better than poking you, heh.”

You instantly flushed, hating his accursed perceptive nature – of course he’d unknowingly use your love of his scent against you, even without knowing about it.

“I need to get up.”

“Why?”

“Undyne.”

“She said you didn’t have to be there ‘till 12pm. It’s only around 5am, relax.”

You gaped at the early hour, Sans sniggering at your reaction.

“What?! Wait, why are you up so early?”

He stopped snickering instantly, his face flushing.

“I, uh-”

After a moment he shrugged, his eye-lights examining something clearly interesting over your shoulder, leaving you faintly confused, before your expression became devious.

“Oh no – _Sans_! Were you possibly….watching me sleep?”

His eye-lights instantly snapped back to you, before his sockets narrowed upon taking in your wicked expression.

“Was thinking, actually.”

“And just happened to be staring at me while you were thinking? You _creep._ ”

He snorted, rolling his eye-lights – before blowing another puff of air into your face and breaking into giggles when you instantly froze up again.

“Heh. Welp, that’s not going to get old for a while.”

You narrowed your eyes at him with a soft, aggravated huff.

“Considering you’ve never got bored of poking me in the cheeks, it seems that I’m doomed to suffer a lifetime of torture.”

“Heh. Why’d you freeze up, anyway?”

“...weird human culture thing, don’t worry about it.”

He blinked, looking confused for a moment, before pulling you closer with a soft hum, effectively shoving you into his chest once more.

“….is there a reason that you’d suddenly hugging me again?”

“Well, you’re comfy, and I wanna sleep more. Why, is it….is it bothering you?”

“….no, it’s not. Just wondered.”

He let out a slightly relieved chuckle, obviously worrying over offending you. Of course, you were not about to inform him how much guilty pleasure you were revelling in currently.

“Heh. Well then, you gonna protest to a lie in?”

“Hell no. Let’s snooze. Gonna need my energy for Undyne.”

Sans grumbled at that, pressing his cheek firmly into your hair.

“Yup, you certainly are.”

 

~

 

 

“I’ve programmed in an SOS on your phone – all you have to do is press 7 three times, and I’ll be there.”

“….Sans, for the last time, I’m gonna be ok.”

“I _know_ that, but I-”

“Don’t worry, I know – you’re an endearing mother-hen, and you’re worried. But I appreciate you caring….honestly.”

He flushes down at you as the two of you stand on Undyne’s doorstep – you chuckled, before he deliberately pokes your cheek, sockets narrowed. Speaking of Undyne’s house, it had taken you a good ten minutes to stop laughing when you’d initially arrived – for her house was shaped like a literal fish head. Luckily, Sans saw the funny side; he hadn’t helped your laughing fit in the least, as he’d started to throw a plethora of fish puns at you.

“Just text when you want a pick-up, ‘kay?”

“Will do – try not to have too much fun at work without me.”

He chuckled at that, giving you a wink.

“No promises. Gonna have myself a nice bag of cinnabunnies. All. To. Myself.”

“Hey!-”

He disappeared, leaving victorious laughter in his wake. But before you can so much as blink, Undyne’s door opens and you’re promptly yanked inside.

“Thank _fuck_ for that – never thought that you nerds would stop flirting.”

You face instantly lit up without your consent as you gaped at her in surprise; that is, before she started to guffaw, pointing at your face – she was dressed in almost the same causal clothing that she’d worn the night before, aside from her tank top, which was now a bright lime green.

“Oh man, you should see your face right now!”

“Dude, how else am I react when you come out with a line like that?!”

“Hehe, you’re such a dweeb – oh man, Alphys was right, you _do_ have it bad.”

“Wait, what?!”

She gives you a droll look, before huffing, rolling her eye, and promptly turning into her house – which was surprisingly simple on the inside. It was very open-plan; the front door opened straight into a her kitchen/dining-room/living-room. Her kitchen took up the entire back wall, but was completely dominated by a simply monstrous oven (which you could honestly say rivalled intimidation levels with Undyne herself), sleek and black with an angry red hob; you could only imagine the colour if the oven was actually switched on. Her dining-room section was pretty simple; just an enormous oak table with a few chairs, but what caught your attention was the fuck-off huge sword propped up against the wall near-by; you had to wonder if she’d ever played any of the Final Fantasy games. Tucked into the corner of the room was a comfy looking orange couch with a large TV – next to the space was a door which you assumed led to her bedroom/bathroom. And directly in front of you was an enormous grand piano, beautifully polished and obviously very well cared for.

“NGAHH, YOU GONNA STAND THERE FOREVER?! COME IN!”

You gulped, promptly stepping in a little more and sitting at the dining chair that she was gesturing desperately to. Her grin widened when you sat however, and she turned to her kitchen space, talking while she walked.

“What’d you want to drink, punk?”

“I don’t know – uh, what do you have?”

She stops in her tracks, appearing to think for a moment.

“Well….hot chocolate? No, wait, outta that – heh, Asgore finished off the rest, but I stopped buying it after that; the big doofus gets all the marshmallows caught in his beard, fuhuhu. Soda….no, wait, you’re not having any of that, that’s for Alphy-”

“ _O_ _o_ _h, is it now?_ ”

She scowls over at you as you waggled your eyebrows knowingly.

“Watch it, punk.”

You chuckled, knowing (hoping) that she was joking. You lean on your elbow, humming in thought.

“Uh….water?”

“Pfft, no, that’s _boring_. Wait – I’ve got some golden flower tea?”

She doesn’t wait for you to accept however, already starting to get it ready.

“Yeah, that’s _blatantly_ the correct choice – goes great with piano playing.”

You really didn’t see how it did, but you weren’t about to argue with her. Instead, you brought up her Final Fantasy memorabilia.

“So, what’s up with the giant sword?”

She pauses in her passionate tea making for a second to glance over at it with her manic grin.

“Fuhuhu, I found it in the dump and fixed it up! Bad-ass, huh?”

“Heh, it really is – kinda impractical to use, though.”

She looks supremely confused at that as she puts sugar into two cups and walks back over to the table, sliding a cup over to you.

“Whatcha mean?”

“Well, it’s too big to use, right?”

She cackles, before lifting it from the wall with ease and swinging it scarily close to your proximity – you screech, ducking your head under the table, which only makes her laugh harder.

“Oh man, relax, would you? Anyway, as you can see, perfectly useable – but it’s way too weak a metal to do much damage without breaking.”

You reappear from under the table, trying you best not to shake.

“O-oh, is that r-right?”

She snorts, rolling her eye at your obvious fear.

“Pfft, like I said, you _wimp_ , relax. But yeah, that’s right – still, gave me a great idea for my own weapons.”

You raise your brow at that, interest officially peaked.

“You make your own weapons?”

“Well yeah, ‘course I do! Magic, remember punk?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think that you could, uh…..make weapons?”

She grins, sitting across from you and delicately sipping her tea, which you found surprising on some level – not that it would be advisable to down tea like as if taking a shot, but you hadn’t put it past her.

“Has anyone explained what projectiles are to you?”

You feel your surprise double at her change in tone – suddenly you could see why she was such a good teacher to Papyrus.

“Yup, Sans did. The bones and pellets, right?”

She snorts, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, but it gets so much more exciting than just that! See, everyone monster has a different one – that’s what I mean by weapons. ‘Cause if you train hard enough, you can take one of those projectiles and use them for hand to hand combat, as well as just throwing them! Fuhuhu. Plus….mine is kinda shaped like a spear. Pretty cool, huh?”

“...yeah, actually. Is that what you’re teaching Paps?”

She suddenly sighed, looking a little awkward.

“Yeah, kinda.”

“….oh right, cooking too, yeah?”

She huffed, taking a gulp of tea, before looking back to you.

“You not gonna drink?”

You frowned at her obvious evasions, but take a sip anyway – and you’re pleasantly surprised, given your usual lacklustre attitude towards tea. True, the tea Alphys had given you hadn’t been bad, but you still weren’t too crazy about it. But this tea was something special; it was distinctly floral, light and sweet upon your tongue yet incredibly delicate.

“Wow, this….this is really good!”

She chuckles, her shark-like grin back full force.

“Should be! It’s called Golden Flower Tea – it’s actually the Asgore’s favourite, if you’d believe it. Fuhuhu, he’s given me a freakin’ cupboard full of the stuff!”

You hummed, taking another sip thoughtfully.

“Is it….is it ok if I ask what he’s like?”

You hesitant question is met with no such hesitance from her; in fact, she more than eagerly talks about him, her face lighting up as she did so.

“Heh, he’s a big softie – but totally bad-ass! I was pretty hot-headed as a kid, so I went to challenge him to a fight – and the guy just dodged everything like it was nothing! Not only that, but he refused to fight back….pretty humiliating on my part. But he said that I had potential (of course), and offered to train me – that’s how I got to be head of the Royal Guard, fuhuhu. Nah, he’s my friend as well as being a great boss – comes over for tea a lot.”

“...he sounds nice.”

She frowned, picking up on your slightly sombre expression, thumping her fist hard upon the table to get your attention.

“Hey! No moping at my freakin’ table, you weenie. You’re gonna bust open that barrier, then everything’s gonna be great! I’m sure the big fluff-ball will drown you in your own tea supply after that!”

You snorted, shaking your head.

“You’re putting way too much faith in me.”

“Pfft, no I’m not. I’ve seen your funky soul, you’re forgetting – and I know what power looks like! Besides, you’re already sensing magic, right?! That proves you’re not just some lame-ass normal human.”

You grinned at her – she was a little like Papyrus in that way; kind of difficult to feel down around. Well, when she wasn’t trying to kill you, that is.

“...so, you gonna tell me why you kinda glossed over stuff when I mentioned Papyrus?”

She looked surprised at your sudden forward question, and you had to admit, you were too. She then smirked at you, letting out a sigh.

“...no getting around you, huh? Well, Papyrus is actually pretty freakin’ tough! But I….listen, don’t tell him this, but I’m not sure I can ever let him into the Royal Guard.”

You still at her words, looking at her incredulously.

“ _What?!_ Why not?!”

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. Look, Papyrus is great. But he’s….well….too innocent and nice! I mean, he was SUPPOSED to capture you, right? But he ended up being friends with you instead! I could never send him into battle….he’d get ripped into little smiling shreds.”

She sighed deeply, finishing off her tea with a sour expression.

“I know that you’re not a freakin’ threat, but some humans are just….well, I’m pretty sure that you know, looking at those cracks you have.”

You wince, and she instantly looks guilty.

“Sorry ‘bout that, punk. But that’s kind of why I started to show him how to cook, you know? So he’d have something to fall back on in life...”

“….I get what you mean about Paps having a big heart. But he tries so hard! He trains every day, this is his _dream_ – even though he knows that he failed to capture me, he still keeps going! And like you said, he’s a good fighter, right? Sure, he might not have it in him to kill, but then-”

“HE HAS TO!”

She slammed her poor table with such a force her fist left a dent. She looked down at it regretfully, before angrily huffing and looking back to you.

“A human won’t hesitate like he does. They’ll kill him, and _they won’t feel a damn thing._ I just….I _can’t_ do that to him. No way. He deserves….way better than that.”

You gulped, fingers digging into your palms. In a way, you knew that she was right, especially when it came to some humans, but….

“...it’s his _dream_ , Undyne.”

Undyne groaned, running a hand over her face.

“Urgh, I KNOW.”

“….maybe you don’t have to put him on the front-lines.”

“No, that wouldn’t work. Papyrus wants to protect everyone – even his freakin’ enemies.”

“….maybe he’d be better as an actual _guard_ , then?”

She frowned at you.

“Whatcha getting at, punk?”

“I mean, guarding someone personally. Not going out on the front-lines like you’re thinking, but keeping someone important safe, like he wants to.”

She hummed, tapping her fingers on the table as she thought, before grinning manically at you.

“Y’know, I like the way you think. But we’ve been talking for way too long!”

She stands abruptly, slamming her hands back down on her poor abused table, making you jump as she continued to grin that shark-like grin.

 

“It’s time to learn some BITCHIN’ piano, y/n.”

“….ok, cool.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAVE THE FLUFF. HAVE IT *shoves it towards readers*  
> Plus, uh, piano. Honestly love that instrument to death, so I hereby apologise to those who do not >.<
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	58. Conspiracies, I say!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we have a little girl talk...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

“Hey, you’re actually pretty good!”

“….I’m not sure if I should be complimented, or offended by how surprised you sound.”

Undyne scoffed out a laugh, slapping your back hard enough to leave bruises; but upon seeing your wince of pain, her expression instantly turned guilty.

“Sorry punk. Don’t know my own strength.”

“Nah, I think that you _do_ – but don’t worry about it. I’ll have a bad-ass slap mark on my back now.”

She snorted, rolling her eye.

“ _Hell no_ , Sans’ll kill me if I don’t return you to him in pristine condition, fuhuhu.”

“...he’s _not_ gonna know I’ve bruised my back!”

She simply waggled her brows at that, still chuckling – you sighed, and sighed heavily. Yes, she was a very good teacher, and you’d already started to conquer Fur Elise, but she’d also been teasing you _relentlessly_ throughout the whole lesson.

 

“C’mon nerd, just admit you like him.”

 

You simply scowled at her as a reply, which she practically giggled at – that was another thing about Undyne. You’d discovered that no matter how much you scowled in her direction, she just seemed to find it hilarious; apparently your attempts at being threatening were more ‘cute’ than anything else ( _I mean, you don’t even have proper fangs to bear at me, punk – what’s up with that?!_ ). Still, at least it meant you didn’t have to be afraid of holding back in front of her.

As a matter of fact, the lesson had been really good as a means of getting to know her; and it seemed that she agreed, given the fact that she’d announced loudly that she was ‘totally gonna steal Papyrus’ bestie’, cackling all the while. Yes, you took that as a good sign.

“Seems that I’m gonna have to bring in the cavalry, fuhuhu.”

“Wait, _what?_ ”

She doesn’t listen to you however, already tapping away hard at her phone as she giggled….you had to wonder how her phone still _worked_ under such abuse.

“...Undyne, who are you texting?”

“None of your business, nerd.”

 

Well, she had a point there.

 

“….ok, well, what did you mean by-”

You’re interrupted by a loud knock at the door – Undyne instantly leapt up from the chair she’d dragged over to the piano, grin manic with excitement, leaving you to sigh and slowly get up from the true piano stool, stretching with a satisfied sound, allowing your spine to loudly snap and crack (which Undyne didn’t seem to mind in the least, you’d noticed – must really just be a skeleton thing).

“H-hey, I got y-your text – wh-what’s wrong?! Are you o-ok?!”

You look over to the front door in bewildered surprise; and sure enough, Alphys is at the door, looking positively stricken. But Undyne just sighs, shaking her head.

“Alphys you goof, the emergency wasn’t to do with me! It was to do with _her_!”

Undyne pointed roughly over her shoulder in your direction, manic smile strained, just as Alphys finally noticed you hovering in the background.

“O-oh no! Y/n, are you o-k? Is it y-your soul again?”

“….uh, I’m sorry, I’m honestly confused as hell right now.”

Undyne chortled loudly, before scooping up Alphys (who squeaked, her face instantly flushing), before plonking her into a chair at the dining table, glaring pointedly at you all the while – you took the ‘hint’ and also took a seat at the table, confusion still reigning your mind; though you did have some idea what this ‘emergency’ was. You could only hope that your suspicions were incorrect.

….but your suspicions were sadly confirmed when Undyne sat down herself, still glaring pointedly at you.

“This nerd won’t admit she likes Sans.”

You allowed you head to thump down upon the surface of the table with a loud groan, leaving Alphys to giggle as she processed what Undyne had said.

“What?! It’s true! She blushes and everything around him-”

“ _I do not!”_

“-laughs at all his stupid jokes-”

“His jokes are _not_ stupid!”

“-and every-time I mention bone-boy, she gets this stupid mushy look on her face!”

You scowled at her, which at least brought her out of her rant as she couldn’t keep a straight face.

“Pffft, nerd, I keep telling you, you’ve gotta be _scary_ , not _pouty!_ ”

“...I swear Undyne, if I could pick up that giant sword, I’d poke you with it.”

“Ooh, you’re gonna poke me with a sword, so scary.”

“Swords are scary to be poked with!”

“Not when they’re _blunt,_ you weenie!”

You’re both interrupted by Alphys’ cute giggles, covering her snout as she snorted – which is when you noticed Undyne’s sudden blush, and suddenly you knew your perfect method of revenge.

 

“….sure, I’ll talk about how I feel about Sans.”

 

The room goes dead silent as both female monsters stare at you in utter shock.

“On one condition, that is.”

“….well?! _What,_ nerd?!”

“...you’ve gotta tell Alphys how you feel about her.”

Instantly both parties blush like crazy, and Undyne starts laughing almost hysterically, singular eye shifting away from you nervously.

“Pffft, don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you do. I mean, you blush and everything around her-”

“Please.”

“-you find everything she does is cute-”

“Y/n!”

“-and every-time she’s in the room or mentioned, you get. This. Mushy. Look. On. Your. Face.”

The room falls into deathly silence once again as Undyne’s face is completely obscured with blush; before she glares at you, and glares hard. You shrink a little under her gaze, smirk falling nervously. You really didn’t want any more bruises, after all.

“….and you’ll say how you feel if I do, huh?”

 

You falter; she wasn’t really going to do it, was she?!

 

“Alphys.”

 

Oh crap, she was.

 

“U-Undyne?!”

“Alphys…..NGAAAAH, I’M JUST GONNA SAY IT! OK!…..ok. Alphys, I think you’re great. I mean, I don’t care if you’re a scientist or anything – heh, ‘cause all of that stuff’s just NERDY CRAP! What I like about you’re PASSIONATE! You’re ANALYTICAL! It doesn’t matter what it is – YOU CARE ABOUT IT! 100 PERCENT! AT MAXIMUM POWER!”

“Get to the point, Undyne.”

“Dude, stop, I’m having a moment here. ANYWAY…..what I’m trying to say is….is…..I….I kinda like you. A lot.”

She gulps, hiding her heavily blushing face in webbed hands as Alphys looks on, seemingly shell-shocked – before you stretched across the table and poked her, making her jolt back to reality as she looked at you; you jerked your head in Undyne’s direction, raising your eye-brows. Alphys coughs loudly to bring attention to her, quickly looking down at her claws as Undyne’s head shoots back up in surprise.

“U-U-Undyne….I-I….I-I…..I’M MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU!”

Alphys gasps, covering her mouth as if it had betrayed her as Undyne looked on, her face unreadable – that is, before it broke out into a gigantic grin, and she all but leapt across the table, swooping down on Alphys and kissing her, leaving you to let out an embarrassed squeak and cover your eyes. You wait for a moment, hoping inwardly it would be enough privacy for them, before daring to look back up, only to see them gazing at one another as if they’d been blind for years, and had only just started to see.

“Um….I can leave, if you want?”

At this, Alphys squeaked, looking at you as if you’d suddenly materialised Sans fashion, while Undyne slowly slunk her way back across the table; only to grab her chair and shove it directly next to Alphys’. And before another word could be uttered, she’d plonked herself down with a huff and grabbed one of Alphys’ clawed hands tight, now looking at you expectantly while the blush slowly faded from her cheeks.

“…. _there._ You happy, punk?!”

“Unbelievably so. Aww. See, Alphys? Told you I was gonna be the best wingman.”

Alphys made a vague strangled noise of happiness, her eyes misting over with tears as she smiled, which Undyne instantly picked up on – it was almost….weird, like she knew exactly what Alphys was thinking.

“Shhh, shhhh, Alphys, you’re ok.”

“I-I’m s-so h-h-happy!”

“I know babe, I know. It’s ok.”

 

_Oh no, this is just too cute._

 

“So, uh, does this mean I’m off the hook? Since I’m such a good friend and all?”

Undyne snorted loudly at that, still gently sweeping happy tears from Alphys’ cheeks.

“Pffft, not on your life. Alphy, c’mon – got some sweet shipping action to get in on here, fuhuhu.”

Alphys instantly seemed to sober up at that, turning to you as she adjusted her glasses, her face still ruled with her over-joyed smile. You simply huff; as lovely as this result was, it now meant….actually telling them how you felt. You were not, and never would be, a liar, so that was simply out of the question. Besides, even if Undyne was a recent addition, they were both your friends, and you trusted them. No, it was go time. Time to speak up. Yup. Any minute now…

….Undyne growled pointedly, narrowing her eye at you, while Alphys looked on eagerly. Taking a breath, you took the plunge.

“….ok. Fine. I like him.”

Alphys immediately covers her mouth with an over-joyed squeak, while Undyne lets out a highly undignified holler.

“HA! I freakin KNEW it!”

“I d-did tell y-you it was obvious!”

You sighed, letting your head fall back down to the table.

“….don’t tell him, ok?”

“O-of c-course not, w-we wouldn’t-”

“WHY NOT?!”

“I-if she doesn’t-”

“NGAHH! C’MON!”

You glared pointedly at her, which she, again, scoffed at. It seemed you really needed to work on your intimidation skills.

“Undyne, really? I don’t want to ruin my friendship with him. I mean, it’s obvious that it wouldn’t…that _he_ wouldn’t....”

You let out a loud groan, more than tempted to repeatedly thump your head upon the table surface.

“...y-you d-don’t think he’d l-like you back?”

You looked up at Alphys, not quite understanding the mute shock in her voice.

“….well, yeah.”

Undyne let out a stupidly loud laugh at that, making you wince on reflex.

“FUHUHU, oh man, that’s the best thing I’ve heard all day! I mean, do you really not-”

“ _U-Undyne!”_

Undyne looked down at Alphys with a surprised frown.

“What?”

You sighed again, looking over at the Amazonian fish monster pointedly.

“Ok, look. I’m a human, right? That’s got to be weird to him on some level. Plus, I’m his friend – he probably wouldn’t want to look at me any other way.”

“I….I-I think that y-you’d be surprised.”

You frown at her, your brow knotting.

“What do you mean?”

“She means that it’s _obvious_ he doesn’t look at you like you’re some sort of lame-ass human, you idiot. Plus, don’t all great relationships start with friendship?! I mean, l-look at me and Alphy.”

She blushed slightly, but still frowned determinedly across the table at you, teeth fixed in a snarl.

“...I don’t know. I don’t want to….I don’t want to ruin things.”

“….I-I still think t-that you s-should talk t-to him.”

“...out of curiosity, how long have you known about me liking him, anyway?”

Alphys let out a snorting giggle at that, covering her snout with her claws.

“O-oh, before y-you did, I’m s-sure. I mean, t-the way y-you two interact! J-Just like in t-that scene in e-episode 5 of s-season one in Mew Mew Kissy Cutie w-when she-”

“Alphys, spoilers, c’mon!”

“S-sorry, hehe. Anyway, m-my point i-is….I think y-you’d be s-surprised.”

You sighed heavily, leaning back in your seat.

“….well, it doesn’t matter much anyway. He’s kind of worried about the tests we’re doing on Tuesday – looking for a particular result, or something?”

Alphys’ eyes immediately lit up at that, while Undyne frowned in confusion.

“Wait, you guys are doing more tests?!”

“W-we a-are, and-”

“Are they gonna tell us if she’s a mage?!”

“T-they might. Bu-but I was g-going to a-ask if y-you could help w-with one? I-if that’s o-ok, y/n?”

“Yeah, sure.”

….as long as Undyne wasn’t going to stab you with the giant sword as part of said test, of course.

“HELL YEAH!…..wait, what am I going to do?”

“W-we’re d-doing a m-molecular a-attibutes test.”

Undyne groaned, her excitement officially dissipated.

“Oh, lame. But yeah, sure – I get why you want me there.”

“….why _does_ she want you there?”

Undyne snorted, baring her teeth at you as you smirked back.

“’cause I’m the Head of the freakin’ Guard, nerd. It’s usually a test that we put Guardsmen through to see what area of the Guard they’d be best suited to – I’m guessin’ that it’d be easier to go over results with me there?”

“I-if that’s o-ok? I-I know i-it’s not very e-exciting-”

Undyne chuckled, tenderly stroking the scales on top of Alphys’ head.

“Pffft, don’t worry about it. I mean, I bet y/n’s results are gonna be pretty cool.”

“Well….Alphys, did you tell her about my….other test results?”

Alphys gulped, shaking her head; obviously torn between your privacy and her devotion to Undyne. But you honestly weren’t bothered by it; it was probably safer for you if Undyne knew about your soul’s quirks, to be honest.

“Ok. Well, long story short, my soul seems to have a perfect balance of all attributes.”

Undyne blinked, appearing to process your words for a long moment, before her mouth hangs open in shock.

“NO FREAKIN’ WAY! I mean, you’d explode!”

You let out a puff of laughter at her utter disbelief.

“Well, clearly sitting here very much in piece, so-”

“But that’s IMPOSSIBLE! I mean, _literally_ impossible – sure, your soul’s different, but that’s just...”

She shakes her head, simply looking over to Alphys incredulously. You feel a little surprised yourself, to be honest; you hadn’t expected Undyne to know much on the science of souls, considering her earlier talk of ‘nerd stuff’.

“She telling the truth, Alphy?”

“Y-yes. Ob-obviously Tuesday’s t-test will help to clarify, but….yes.”

Undyne sat back in her seat, still shaking her head as she openly stared at you.

“….we are _so_ gonna bust open that freakin’ barrier.”

You rolled your eyes with a groan as her excitement seemed to make a reappearance.

“Sure, as long as I can actually use magic.”

Undyne narrowed her eye at you, leaning across the table to flick you hard on the forehead; you automatically wince and hold your forehead with a wounded expression, more than sure that was another bruise you’d gained during your visit to her house.

“What did I say about moping at my table, you weenie?!”

“I’m not moping! I’m being practical!”

“NGAHH! WHERE’S YOUR DRIVE? HAVE SOME DETERMINATION! YOU HUMANS ARE KNOWN FOR IT, AFTER ALL!”

You rolled your eyes, still rubbing at your forehead.

“Why would humans be known for it? I mean, you’re a hell of a lot more determined than any human I’ve met – same goes for Papyrus.”

Undyne frowned at you confusedly, before raising her eye-brows at Alphys.

“Does this nerd not know about Determination?”

“I-I would have t-thought that Sans w-would have told her.”

“Told me what?”

“M-monsters d-don’t have D-Determination i-in their attributes – w-well, n-not in levels like humans, anyway.”

You frowned, really not understanding this concept.

“That honestly makes no sense.”

“Ok, how ‘bout this, then – if a monster takes a hit with killing intent, they’ll die, and that’s it. But if a human took a hit like that, they might persist long enough to hit back. That’s more or less the Determination trait.”

“But….like I said, you and Papyrus are way more-”

Undyne groaned, thumping her hand on the table.

“It doesn’t work like that, twerp! I mean, there’s attributes like Perseverance, and Passion – they’re more or less the same when you think about it, but….really different, too.”

“….because Determination is just a drive to keep going, no questions asked.”

Undyne nodded with a wide grin, obviously glad that you got it.

“….yeah, sounds about right for humans, to be honest.”

She looked surprised at that, not expecting your slightly bitter tone. But before she could ask, you all jump in surprise as there’s a knock at the door. Undyne narrows her eye in slight irritation, getting up and flinging open the door (you now understood where Papyrus got it, though she did it with a little more finesse) – before letting out a loud, and very disappointed, groan.

“URGH. You’re such a freakin’ party pooper.”

“Heh, nice to see you too, ‘Dyne.”

You instantly felt your heart pick up a little at Sans’ voice, and you gulped in reflex; before jumping as you feel Alphys’ clawed hand slip over yours, as she patted you with a reassuring look.

“I-It’ll all be f-fine y/n, y-you’ll see.”

You grinned back at her, shaking you head a little.

“Heh, yeah. One way or another, right?”

She sighed, looking at you worriedly.

“I s-swear I’ll convince y-you, either way.”

“’sup.”

You jolted in surprise as Sans suddenly plonked himself next to you, while Undyne stalked over, planting her hands on her hips as she glared down at him.

“Who the hell invited you in?!”

“Well, you opened the door. Figured I was welcome.”

She growled under her breath, continuing to glare at him until he relented with wounded sigh – not that it really worked well with his obvious smirk.

“Heh, well, I know when I’m not welcome. Ready to go, y/n?”

“Hey, we’re hanging out here, ya dingus!”

“I can see that. But Paps is almost done with dinner.”

Undyne looked over at her clock with a frown.

“Huh. Didn’t realise the time. Well, ok then – see you Tuesday, punk?”

“Yup, see you then – bye Alphys!”

Alphys smiled back at you warmly as the world around you dissolved, Sans slipping his arms around your waist and teleporting the two of you; soon you were sat on the familiar squish of the couch.

“So then, y/n...”

You looked over to Sans with curious look as he frowned thoughtfully, slowly releasing his hold on your waist.

“What was Alphys doin’ at your piano lesson?”

You gulped, letting out a nervous laugh after a moment.

“Well, initially, she came over to hang out – but then I kind of made the two of them confess to each-other?”

Sans’ eye-lights instantly opened up a little in interested surprise; inwardly you sigh in relief, knowing he wouldn’t dig too deeply in Alphys’ presence in Undyne’s house.

“Huh. You caught that?”

“Pfft, of course. It was obvious – I mean, you can tell when people like each-other that much.”

Sans hummed, looking away with a slight frown.

“….yeah, sometimes. Anyway, happy that they’re happy.”

You faltered, wondering why he was suddenly a little morose; was he a little envious, perhaps? Maybe he had someone he cared about…..your soul lurched a little at the thought. But….that was natural, right? He was pretty popular at Grillby’s, after all. It was….only natural.

But before you could ask if he was ok, Papyrus’ head suddenly appeared from the kitchen, his mouth hanging open in surprise.

“….did you just say what I thought you said?!”

You looked over at him slightly confused, before Sans let out a chuckle.

“Yup, certainly did, bro. Nothing _fishy_ ‘bout this love story, heh.”

 

“….OH MY GOD. WHY ARE YOU RUINING THIS JOYOUS MOMENT?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....so yeah. I have the flu, and am dead, so I'm so sorry if this chapter is a bit bleh. xD   
>  BUT HEY SOMEONE KNOWS ABOUT OUR CRUSH NOW. PLUS MY ONE OF MY SHIPS HAVE SAILED. YAY
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	59. A Sombre Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which it's a very special day....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

You awoke strangely satisfied, humming slightly in the back of your throat – everything was just so damn comfortable. So warm….so _safe_.

You let out another happy sound, snuggling deeper into the cosy covers around you; before freezing up when your mind finally computed the fact that the covers were quite obviously breathing.

 

 _Not again_.

 

You looked up, groaning slightly when you saw that the source of warmth and comfort was, of course, none other than Sans, who had obviously grabbed a hold of you at some point during the night.

You’d fallen asleep pretty fast last night – who would have thought that piano lessons could be that exhausting? Of course, you didn’t _really_ put it down to exhaustion – no, you blamed Sans for your sudden sleepiness.

He’d noticed the bruise on your forehead that Undyne had given you as punishment for ‘moping at her table’ and immediately demanded you tell him about any other injuries; eventually you’d relented and told him about the bruises you no doubt had on your back from her over enthusiastic congratulation slaps. After a little explaining, he wasn't angry with her – but he had insisted that you allow him to heal the marks. But during the healing process, you’d felt so relaxed and safe you’d fallen asleep quite suddenly; and now, of course, you’d woken up to being snuggled by him again.

Not that you were complaining – not really. But it was more than a little bittersweet, given your current situation. Now that you’d actually acknowledged the fact that you had feelings for him, you were caught between loving being around him, but also hating it in a strange way – it was torture to be so close, and yet also feel so far from him.

You sighed gently, chuckling a little as his face twitched in his sleep in reaction to you breathing on him. He looked so wonderfully peaceful like this; his face completely clear and open as he breathed evenly.

You squirmed gently, attempting to wriggle away to check the time on your phone, but to no avail; if anything, his arms actually tightened around you as he pressed his cheek into your hair, grumbling in a satisfied manner. Well, if you were apparently stuck here, you might as well go back to sleep – after all, it wasn’t as if you had anything to do today. Sure, Sans had work, but it wasn’t as if the two of you did much other than talk when you were sat at his station. No, you might as well sleep…

….so warm…

....so...safe….

The next thing you know, both you and Sans jolt awake at the sudden, and extremely loud ‘bang’ of your door flying open.

“Sans! Y/n! What are you two lazybones doing?!”

Sans groaned, lifting his head from your hair to glare at his brother.

“We’re sleeping, bro.”

“No, you’re _canoodling_! Do you think that I cannot see your cuddling session, brother? Both of you, get up this instant! This is a very important day, after all!”

Papyrus slapped his gloved hands together to further his point, his expression stern; Sans groaned long and loud, his expression very clearly pained – honestly, it concerned you a little, considering he’d actually been pretty good at getting up at a decent time recently. Had he not slept well last night?

“’kay bro, we’ll be up in a bit.”

Papyrus let out a satisfied ‘nyeh’, turning on his heel as he muttered about preparing some breakfast spaghetti – you immediately started to squirm, not really feeling up to eating such a dish this early.

Sans prevented your movements however, tugging you close to him once more with a deep rumbling sound.

“Sans, we need to get up.”

“I know.”

“….um, so, why is this an important day?”

Sans froze up a little at that, before letting out a heavy sigh.

“….it’s the anniversary of my dad’s death. M’sorry for not telling you earlier, bud. I just….just didn’t want to think about it.”

You hugged him a little closer in reflex, now understanding completely his apparent need of suddenly sleeping in, and the pained expression he’d pulled when Papyrus had demanded that he get up.

“….oh. I’m so sorry.”

He huffed, pulling back slightly to look down at you, his expression very clearly troubled; his soul hummed out a grumble, obviously not enjoying the situation either.

“Do you….would you like me to leave you guys alone today? I can always go over to Alphys’, or hang out with Toriel-”

“Nah. Honestly, we kinda spoke about it while you were out yesterday – we _want_ you around. It’d be kinda nice to….to introduce you to him. We’ll be heading out to his tomb in a bit…..heh, and this’ll mean that you actually get to see Waterfall properly. Or at least, some of it.”

“…I’d be honoured to meet him.”

He smiled at that, before stretching out a little against you and gradually letting you go, his expression clearly regretful as he did so – you must be a lot more comfy than you’d ever assumed yourself to be. Plus, he obviously needed the hug on a day like this.

“I know that this is the wrong time to ask this, but…..I’ve never heard of any other monsters having graves?”

“Yeah, normally we just cover an item that the deceased loved in their dust – with the belief that the soul lives on in that item. But….but there was nothing left of dad. Not even his dust.”

Sans clenched his sockets shut, breathing slow and heavy, obviously calming himself before looking at you with a reassuring smile.

“Plus, he was the head scientist – it kinda honours all of his efforts, y’know?”

Sans lets out a gentle huff as you suddenly squirmed closer again, holding him tight.

“….I’m so sorry, Sans.”

He sighed after a moment, holding you flush to his chest.

“….yeah. I am too.”

 

~

 

“It’s just a little further, sister! You can do it!”

You shuddered, not being able to bring yourself to answer as you squinted your eyes against the icy wind and snow falling hard into your face. The path to Waterfall wasn’t all that long apparently, but for some odd reason it always seemed to be stuck in a permanent blizzard – a fact which you were currently really not enjoying, despite Papyrus’ words of encouragement.

Shockingly, neither brother seemed to be all that effected by the extreme weather – you knew that skeleton monsters didn’t feel temperature quite in the same way that you did, but for them to walk alongside you as if it was nothing was nothing short of ridiculous.

“Just a few more steps!”

Part of you cursed Papyrus and his determined ways in this particular case – Sans had attempted to insist on teleporting you through, but when Papyrus had heard that you’d never really seen Waterfall before he’d been adamant that you all go on foot; apparently the experience just wasn’t quite the same, otherwise.

You just hoped that you wouldn’t have to sacrifice your face in the process.

You felt a poke to your frigid cheek, and you looked over sulkily at Sans, who appeared to scoff slightly at your expression – but then it was a little hard to tell through the thick haze of snow. At this point both he and Papyrus were little more but silhouettes; if it wasn’t for Sans occasionally poking you in the right direction you’re pretty sure you’d have no idea where you were going.

“Here we are! See, I told you it wasn’t much more!”

You blinked, rubbing at your eyebrows in an attempt to defrost them a little as the snow and fog started to let up – and to your surprise, the temperature starting to rise as well; to the point where you didn’t need your winter coat any more, that was for sure. The snow underfoot had more or less disappeared too, revealing the stone underneath.

“Hang on a sec, guys – just need to take off my coat.”

“Oh yes! I had forgotten that you needed such inconvenient things.”

You chuckled, rolling your eyes slightly at Papyrus’ words as you wriggled out of the clinging material.

“Not all of us can create magic skin, sadly.”

“You never know, sister! You may learn to.”

You hummed, pondering the odd idea; still, it would be pretty convenient to not have to worry about cold temperatures. Shaking yourself out of your thoughts, you carefully placed your coat inside your phone and indicated that you were ready to continue, much to Papyrus’ excitement (a fact that you found a little odd, considering the date, but who were you to question him?).

As your group continued onward, the forest gradually thinned out – this was honestly the most cave like place you’d experienced in the Underground, which was surprising, all things considered. It appeared as if you were following a river; not the one that Charon travelled on, however. Perhaps this was the river that eventually led to the Core? You winced slightly as you felt freezing water hit the crown of your head; you should have been paying a little more attention to where you were walking – it seemed as if water was simply falling out of the ceiling in places, great torrents that would be fantastic to shower under, if not for the shockingly cold temperature. But then, considering how close you were to Snowdin, that wasn’t too much of a surprise.

Soon, the pathway opened up, revealing a station very much like Sans’ in Snowdin – but what was far more interesting was the almost ethereal blue plant sitting next to the station. However, what you were most focused on was the fact that there was a massive drop on one side of the ‘room’ - almost as if you were standing atop a waterfall. The only difference being, of course, that you didn’t have a hope in hell of seeing the bottom – it was, in every sense, an abyss.

“Whoa.”

Sans chuckled at your reaction, grin spread wide across his face.

“Heh, bud, we haven’t even reached the cool stuff yet.”

You ignored him pointedly, walking over to look over the edge of the drop, before stepping back with a slightly nervous gulp.

“That’s….pretty deep I’m guessing.”

Sans snorted, tugging you a little farther away from the edge, slight worry in his sockets.

“Here, come look at this.”

You frowned a little more at the edge into nothingness, before following him over as he gestured to the plant; which actually appeared to be a flower, now that you were a little closer to it. The shape reminded you vaguely of a poppy; aside from the fact that it actually came up to your hip and was a bright, luminous blue – obviously bioluminescence in this case. Or at least you thought so, as it was the only thing that you could compare it to; but considering the nature of magic, you supposed that you could never be really sure. But all in all, it was beautiful.

“It’s called an Echo Flower.”

You looked over to Sans as he stood next to you, looking down at the flower.

“Go on, touch it.”

Quirking your head inquisitively, you do as you’re told; before jolting slightly as the flower whispers Sans’ previous sentence to you. You turn to him in utter shock, leaving him to chortle at your expression.

“Well, I guess I know now why they’re called that…..oh, wait.”

You giggle, creeping closer to the flower and whispering something into it, before gesturing to Sans to touch the petals – he smirks, leaning in as he did so to hear your message better.

“ _Flower you doing today, Sans?_ ”

He immediately starts to chuckle, and you giggle with him – before Papyrus lets out an extremely loud groan behind you.

“Of _course_ the two of you would use it for puns! They’re far better for their _actual_ use, Sans.”

“What are they usually used for?”

“Why wishes, of course! Monsters whisper their hopes and dreams into the flowers – long ago, monsters would apparently wish upon the stars in the sky, but, ah….”

Papyrus trails off, looking a little awkward, before his smile returned with the slightest hint of force.

“Still! We have these shiny rocks in the ceiling that look almost exactly like stars, apparently! But in my opinion, I believe magical flowers to be far superior.”

You smiled, hoping that it didn’t reflect the sadness you suddenly felt after hearing this particular tit-bit of information.

“It’s….it’s really beautiful.”

Papyrus’ smile brightened up at your words, standing up straighter as he planted his hands on his hips. You grinned a little more genuinely in reflex, before directing your attention to the station.

“So who’s-”

“Heh, it’s mine.”

You instantly frowned in soft confusion.

“But don’t you already have a station? Besides, I’ve never seen you work here.”

“Honestly? This is only here if a human happens to fall into the Underground – so I can keep an eye on them, y’know? Surveillance.”

“...and since the only human in the Underground lives with you, there’s no need to use it.”

He winked slowly at you as you shook you head with a scoffing laugh, before frowning once more at the station.

“….why is there snow on the roof?”

Papyrus’ sockets widened slightly, looking up at the roof himself with a frown, before looking over at Sans enquiringly – but Sans just shrugged, smug smirk in place.

“No idea. Probably magic.”

Papyrus simply face-palmed at that, before starting to continue forwards, muttering angrily as Sans barely contained his chortles; which is when you noticed your arch enemy, the golden star – which just so happened to be right next to the station. You approached quietly, Sans’ laughter fading into silence as he watched you. Which is when you became aware of a strange, high-pitched tone; almost like the sound a glass makes when you tap it with something metal, only it remained sustained. Could this be the sound of the star? Obviously it was some sort of magic, it was out of the question to assume otherwise – but it was such an odd tone compared to any other noises in the Underground. Shaking yourself, you made a quick swiping motion, growling in frustration when it disappeared once more.

“….that ‘random star thing’ again, bud?”

You grumbled, nodding shortly to him, before starting to stomp your way after Papyrus – though Sans caught up with ease, chuckling at your frustrations.

Your general bitterness towards the existence of the ‘random star things’ is soon forgotten however when you come to a complete stand-still; the path had disappeared into a raging waterfall – it seemed that you were going to have to get your feet wet. Papyrus waved to you from the other side of the stretch of water, smiling.

“Worried about getting your boots wet, bud?”

You blinked up at Sans for a moment, before pointedly looking down at his slippered feet.

“Heh, good point.”

Without another word, he grabbed your waist and teleported the two of you to the other side, whilst Papyrus narrowed his sockets at his brother, clearly put out.

“Sans!”

“What? Didn’t want to get our feet wet.”

You chuckled at Papyrus’ obvious disdain, ultimately deciding to distract him.

“So, where to next?”

“Oh! We are not too far! And the best part is – we have to solve a puzzle to get there!”

He let out a happy ‘nyeh’ of excitement, quickly continuing along the path, leaving you to follow with the slightest of frowns; Papyrus seemed to be in awfully high spirits, considering the date. But then, after your talk in the kitchen over his need to keep everyone happy, you had to wonder if his exuberance was as genuine as it seemed to be.

“Here we are! Sister, I shall give you the honour of solving this, considering it’s your first time here!”

You blinked, realising that you’re now stood in front of yet another body of water – though this one is obviously far too deep to transverse on foot. Looking over to your left, you see a sign, as well as a cluster of plants that look like enormous unopened lotus flowers.

“’ _When four bridge seeds align in the water, they will sprout’_ ….so all I have to do is...”

Delicately picking up a ‘bridge seed’, you push it into the water, before looking up at Papyrus, who gave you an encouraging thumbs up. Grinning, you continued in your task, before gasping in delight as the flowers bloomed before your very eyes – your assumption was correct, they did look exactly like lotus flowers; though obviously much larger. Hesitantly, you stepped onto the first, before once again letting out a delighted sound when it held your weight effortlessly.

“Oh man, that’s so cool.”

You continued your way across, turning to see Sans and Papyrus following you, both of their faces expressing fond amusement at your amazement.

“Well done, sister! Wonderful puzzle solving!”

You frowned lightly, but didn’t argue – you’d long accepted that the ‘puzzles’ of the Underground weren’t all that fearsome. That said, Undyne had mentioned that she’d designed ones with lasers….

Shuddering at that thought, you hurried after Papyrus.

“We are almost there! Sans, would you please assist me with fetching some bridge seeds?”

“Sure bro.”

When Sans makes no effort at all to move from his spot however, you roll your eyes, heading over to a patch of them and gathering a couple of them up in your arms carefully. Papyrus sighed, following after your example, before gesturing with his head for you to follow him – and as you approach the patch of river where you’d obviously be placing your designated seeds, Sans suddenly appears, almost making you drop your seeds in shock. He grinned at you while you huffed, Papyrus ignoring both of you in favour of placing down the seeds he carried, before turning to you for yours.

“Come now….just over here.”

You frowned at Papyrus’ suddenly morose tone, placing a hand on his arm sympathetically. He forced a smile down at you, patting you gently on the head as if to comfort you, before making his way across the flowers. You looked over to Sans worriedly, but see that he’s almost in a worse state, shoulders tense, eye-lights narrowed down to pin-pricks. You reach out, deftly grabbing his hand with a gentle smile. After a moment or two, he squeezed back, his gaze still solidly directed at the ground, before leading the two of you across the bridge seeds, where Papyrus was waiting with an almost blank expression – he’d clearly given up trying to smile. Frowning determinedly, you reach out and grab his hand as well, giving it a tight squeeze; he looks down at it in surprise for a moment, before offering you a watery smile. In perfect silence, the three of you make your way steadily up the inclining pathway.

Of course you were far more concerned about the well-being of your friends at the present moment in time, but you had to admire the pure beauty of the place where their father was buried; it seemed that the three of you were heading up to the apex of a hill, the pathway cutting through an enormous field of swaying Echo Flowers, their ethereal glow lighting everything with a gently sombre shade of blue. Above you the ceiling twinkled with the thousands upon thousands of shining stones that Papyrus had mentioned earlier – they really did resemble stars in a midnight sky.

Papyrus made a choked out whimpering noise next to you, and you squeezed his hand just a touch harder, letting him know that you were there, even if it didn’t help much – it was all you could offer at this point.

The three of you reached the top of the hill, and are confronted with the sight of what must be the tomb – though in your mind it was more or an ornate gravestone. A polished slab of what you thought looked like white marble, carved into a simplistic arch, and surrounded by a cluster of the same yellow flowers that had cushioned your fall into the Underground.

Sans and Papyrus seemed to almost freeze in place for moment at the sight of it, before dragging you forwards in unison to stand before the gravestone.

It was then that you were finally close enough to read the script upon it – and you felt your insides freezing over in shock.

Icy, dead, shock.

 

_WingDings Gaster Serif._

_May you always keep your hope, wherever you reside._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...well now. Gaster, you naughty boy, lying to us like that ;)  
>  Also....over 200 bookmarks?! WHAT *hugs everyone*
> 
> *gasps* LOOK! LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS PIECE OF FANART FROM ESUERC!! <3
> 
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/180001993356/a-little-thing-for-crusnikroxas-story-oh-crap-i
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!
> 
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/
> 
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	60. Everybody Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we deal with the truth....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

_WingDings Gaster_ ….?

 

_Gaster is….Sans and Papyrus’ **father**._

 

_And Grillby’s **soulmate**._

 

 

_**He lied to me.** _

 

 

“Y/n?”

You gulped, shoving your betrayal down hard as you looked into Sans’ concerned eye-lights; no, it wasn’t _right_ that he was concerned for you at the moment – you should be the one who’s there for him in this instance.

 

_He thinks that his father’s dead! They both do!_

 

“You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m….I’m fine…..are you?”

He sighed, not answering as he looked down at the gravestone with the blankest of expressions as Papyrus slowly sunk to his knees in front of it, his expression also strangely blank. You hesitantly reached out and placed your hand upon the younger skeleton’s shoulder; which is when he begins to speak, his usual loud, bouncing tones replaced with a sombre quietness that made your heart ache.

“Father….this is y/n! Though I call her sister – and she is a friend more than deserving of that title! She is human, as I’m sure you can tell. Well, perhaps a special magey one, but that is beside the point! And…..and she’s very special as a person, to _both_ of us. That’s why we’ve brought her with us today to meet you! I’m sure that you’d….like her…..as much as….”

Papyrus heaved out a gasping breath, his large frame crumpling in on itself as he finally gave in to the grief he’d obviously been dealing with all day – Sans quickly knelt to join his brother, putting his arms around him and making comforting sounds, even though his sockets had become completely devoid of his usual eye-lights; more than enough of a sign that his emotions were in turmoil. You winced slightly, the echoing humming of their souls yelling out their combined pain louder than even their faces revealed; this was a wound that would never heal, a loss that would never be filled.

 

_But he’s **not** gone._

 

You once again shoved down your thoughts, far more concerned for the monsters in front of you; you knelt with them, putting your arms around both of them and holding them close as Papyrus sobbed and Sans shivered – you clenched your jaw, fighting back your own tears at the complete and utter injustice of the situation. As if losing a family member wasn’t bad enough.

_Why_ had you just blindly believed Gaster? You should have trusted your gut – you’d known that he was a skeleton monster, of course. You’d known that Grillby had mentioned never feeling the loss of his soul, despite his mate’s apparent death. But no, you’d believed him when he’d insisted that he wasn’t related – why wouldn’t you have? He’d never given you reason not to believe him before, after all.

You held the brothers just a touch tighter, giving up the fight against your own emotions as your eyes filled up with bitter tears, unknowingly thinking the same thing that the brothers were thinking, over and over.

 

_It’s not fair._

 

_~_

 

“Oh! Brother, may we stop by the wishing room before we head home?”

You quirked your head curiously at Papyrus, raising your brows just a fraction.

“Wishing room?”

“Yes! You remember how I mentioned earlier of the true, most noble tradition of whispering your wishes to Echo Flowers?”

“….oh...yeah. Heh, sorry. So there’s a designated room for it?”

Sans shrugged, his expression fairly non-committal; where Papyrus had seemingly picked up a little after leaving his father’s grave, Sans seemed to still be very much caught up that swirl of emotionlessness that the wonderful bundle of joy that was suffering seemed to come with.

“I guess there is. Though monsters just kind of wish wherever they want. Doesn’t matter.”

You looked over at him, your concern rising; his soul’s hum was more of a growl at this point, a barely veiled layer of stress – but you weren’t quite sure how he’d react if you tried to send over a positive image, so you left it for the time being. So you instead took hold of his hand once more, giving it a gentle squeeze – he looked up with dull surprise; and with some alarm, you swore that his eye-lights also seemed dulled, as if a layer of dust had settled down upon them.

“Well, let’s go onward then, shall we? I promise that you’re sure to enjoy it, y/n!”

You head now whipped around to Papyrus as his usual grin just stretched that little bit too wide, his tone just a touch too jovial – which is why you quickly grabbed his hand too, much to his shock, if his widening sockets were anything to go by.

“If….if that’s what you want Paps, then we’ll go, ok? But don’t feel bad if you don’t want to today – it’s not like we can’t come back another time.”

Papyrus’ smile wavered, his luminescent orange tears gathering in the corners of his sockets.

“….would you prefer if we went home and watched some Mettaton re-runs?”

He nodded silently, obviously still not trusting himself to speak. But just as you’re about to head back in the direction your small group had walked from originally, you gasp as you suddenly feel an arm grab you – and the next thing you know, you’re standing back in the living room, Papyrus looking just as confused as you felt; which is when Sans let the both of you go, stumbling a little as he did so. Papyrus’ expression immediately turned to one of concern, his brow furrowing.

“ _Brother!_ Are you alright? You know how dangerous it is for you to jump with more than one passenger, especially over such a large distance!”

Sans looked up at Papyrus with a horrifically fake smile stretching his features, shaking his head as his muted eye-lights wavered.

“M’fine, bro, see? Nothing to worry ‘bout.”

Despite his words, he promptly sagged onto the couch, his eye-lights still very much dulled in his sockets.

“Just a bit _bone-tired_ , heh.”

Papyrus couldn’t bring himself to so much as shriek at the puns as he looked down at his brother with increasing worry, his tall frame shaking as he fought to control his emotions; which is when you knew that you had to step in, before this started to get dangerous for either of them.

“Hey Paps, why don’t you go make some popcorn for our movie fest? I’ll dig the vids out for you while you’re gone, ok?”

Papyrus gave you a shaky, watery smile, before nodding and heading off to the kitchen – he obviously knew your plan, and you really hoped that he didn’t think badly of you for wanting to help; but you’d seen the strain the two of them were under, and just leaving things like this seemed…. _wrong._

You casually plonked yourself down next to Sans, looking at him for a while as he appeared to stare into nothingness, his expression ridiculously exhausted; at this point, you weren’t really sure if it was down to him feeling depressed to the point of dissociation, or due to him over-using his magic, but neither was a good option.

You shook yourself mentally, focusing on your breathing.

 

_In for 5. Out for 5. In for 5. Out for 5._

 

His humming became clearer almost immediately – though as you’d noticed earlier, the tone had dropped ridiculously, almost a growl, the note dulled as if played from within a box. Hesitantly, you sent forward the feeling of the sun on your skin; he’d seemed to like that one before. He shuddered lightly in response, his expression becoming a little more alert.

Feeling somewhat more confident in your actions, you sent over the fresh scent of newly cut grass. His eye-lights brightened just a fraction, flickering over to look at you as you watched him.

 

_The taste of cinnamon-butterscotch pie._

 

“Y/n...”

 

_The scent of the ground after rain._

 

“….please.”

 

_The colour of the sky at sunset._

 

“….you don’t need to do this.”

 

_The sound of crickets singing on a summer evening._

 

“….I’m not worth it.”

 

_The quite peace of listening to the sea._

 

“….I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve to be happy.”

 

Tears had started to well in his sockets as his eye-lights had become progressively brighter, his soul’s humming turbulent; but at least it was better than a dead growl.

“Of course you do.”

“I don’t.”

 

_The feeling of stepping into a cold stream in the dead heat of summer._

 

“You do. Whether you believe it or not, you do. Want to know why?”

 

_The particularly sweet song that blackbirds are known for._

 

“Because you’re _you_. I care about you – a lot of people do. Now, do you think my judge of character is that bad?”

 

_A puppy’s excited wiggle._

 

Sans let out a slight snort at your words, a small smile appearing despite his soul’s hum still being a little off; but it was steadily improving.

 

_The pure wonderment you’d felt when you first fell to the Underground._

 

Sans’ eye-lights opened up a fraction as he watched your face, tears starting to stream down his skull as he let out a choking chuckle.

 

_His smile. You’re so happy that it’s back._

 

He snorted out a laugh, and you frowned at him with slight confusion.

“Heh….you know that….I can see all these things….right? Not just….the associated emotions.”

That brought your mind to a sudden-stand still as your face flushed; but it didn’t seem to matter as Sans was so much better, even if he couldn’t quite catch his breath as he was crying so much.

“Oh man…. _I’m_ ….I’m so….so _lucky_...”

He suddenly pulled you close, still sniffling loudly as he buried his face in your shoulder, your shirt quickly becoming saturated with his tears.

“I...I miss him... _so much._ ”

You said nothing, instead re-focusing yourself.

 

_A warm shower on a cold day._

 

Sans’ arms tightened just a touch around you as he sobbed, finally, truly letting go of himself. You sighed, pulling him closer; before you noticed Papyrus looking over anxiously from the kitchen, his tall frame quivering. You smiled as warmly as you could manage at him, beckoning with a hand.

“Hey Paps – wanna come join this cuddle pile and watch those movies we spoke about?”

Papyrus was across the room in a flash, holding both you and his brother close to his chest, the popcorn in the kitchen apparently forgotten for the time being.

 

The rest of evening carried on with a strange sense of peace in the house as you held each-other close on the couch, barely paying attention to movies playing; in fact, you hardly even noticed when you fell asleep.

 

~

 

_Opening your eyes, you felt a little surprised to find that you were in the Void; before the thought finally registered, and your anger bubbled up inside you. You quickly whipped your body around, looking into every direction as your face fell into a snarl._

“ _ **Gaster!”**_

_You receive no answer, which did not improve your mood in the least._

“ _...you lied to me!”_

“… _.I’m so sorry, y/n.”_

_Your head snapped over to where Gaster stood, his expression horrifically sad._

“ _That’s not going to cut it, I’m afraid. You don’t get to just pull that kind of crap with me!”_

“ _I’m sorry.”_

“ _They’re your sons! I’ve been living with your sons, Gaster! I work with your soulmate!”_

“ _I know.”_

“ _They all think you’re dead. But you’re not. You’re here – can’t you see what kind of pain they’re in?”_

_Gaster appeared to grit his teeth, looking away pointedly._

“ _But you’re here – and I’ve been talking to you this entire time.”_

“ _There was no point in telling you the truth.”_

_Your snarl deepened as you approached him, glaring into his eye-lights._

“ _No point?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Of course there’s a point! They would know that you weren’t **dead**. Grillby would know that he was right, that you aren’t gone-”_

“ _ **I AM GONE!** ”_

_You jolted as he all but screamed in your face, his eye-lights flashing a vibrant purple for a split second._

“ _I am trapped here, y/n – and there is no hope of me getting out! Why did you think I told you not to utter this to anyone? There’s no **hope**. How do you think that would make them all feel? They’d fight endlessly to find me, to rescue me – it would consume them, destroy them from the inside out. It would ruin them, y/n!”_

“ _And the suffering they’re going through at the moment is better? Did you even see what happened today?!”_

_Gaster gulped, casting his eye-lights off the side in shame._

“ _...it’s better than the alternative.”_

“ _How?! Sans almost seriously hurt himself! And Papyrus was near enough giving himself an anxiety attack trying to keep everyone happy! You really think that’s better than them knowing that you’re alive?”_

“ _Like I already said-”_

“ _I know what you said. But you don’t know that it would play out like that.”_

“… _.I know my sons. And I know my soulmate. They would never give up.”_

_You sighed, glaring up at him._

“ _You’re an idiot. Both you and Sans, with your stupid secrets – can’t you see that it’s just going to hurt people in the long run? They’re never going to get over your ‘death’. As it is, I think Grillby feels as if he’s going mad with it – I mean, everyone around him thinks you’re dead and gone, but he knows that he can feel you.”_

_Gaster sighed, his fists clenched tight at your harsh words – but you were angry. You couldn’t allow this, allow him to lie and keep something like this from you._

“… _.at the very least, you should have told me.”_

“ _You wouldn’t have been able to keep it from them. Especially not Sans.”_

_You narrowed your eyes at him, face still fixed in a glare._

“ _You were the head scientist, right? There’s got to be a way to reverse this – to get you out. Tell me where I need to look, who I should ask-”_

“ _There’s nothing, and there’s no-one! I told you, there’s no possible way for me to-”_

“ _I’m sure that there will be. You just need to stop being such a fucking martyr and **accept the help.”**_

_Gaster lets out an exasperated growl, his eye-lights flashing purple once again before he gained back some semblance of control._

“ _You don’t understand, y/n – the Void is a closed space, a pocket dimension. You can’t simply pull someone out by force – you have to find an exit. And I assure you that there is no such thing.”_

“ _...what if we made one?”_

_Gaster let out a slightly disbelieving laugh, his expression droll; you instantly felt your metaphorical hackles raise._

“ _Would you stop being so stubborn and just listen to me?!”_

“ _Such a thing is hypothetical.”_

“ _Isn’t most science, unless already proven? Besides – you and I both know that Sans already knows how to teleport. He rips a hole in the literal fabric of reality, for fuck sake.”_

“ _For but a moment – and believe me, I’ve thought along those lines. There are no obvious openings when he does such a thing; the ‘holes’ close as quickly as they open.”_

“ _But weren’t you the one who came up with the whole teleporting thing with him?”_

_Gaster’s expression lessened in intensity as he pondered for a moment, before immediately shaking his head._

“ _It doesn’t work like that.”_

“ _Explain.”_

“ _The capability to teleport originated from a machine installing permanent changes to our magic – it allows both he and I to teleport, amongst….other things. And it is what I believe allowed me to exist within the Void without becoming consumed.”_

“ _And I’m guessing you can’t teleport any more?”_

“ _Oh no, I can – but I am stuck on this dimensional plane.”_

“… _.but I’m not.”_

_He hummed, looking off into the distance._

“… _.we have no idea why you’re able to do what you do at this point, my dear.”_

“ _True. But as it stands, I can travel to and from the Void with ease while I’m unconscious, and I’m completely unaffected when I travel with Sans whenever he teleports – don’t you think that’s at least something to start with?”_

“ _It is foolish to hope for something so vague, y/n.”_

“ _Well, I think we’ve already established what an idiot I am.”_

_Gaster sighed angrily, shaking his head._

“ _I cannot allow myself – or you, for that matter – to hope for something that’s impossible, y/n. Even if we did find out why you’re able to traverse the Void, it doesn’t mean that you’ll ever find yourself able to do anything other than visit it in your sleep.”_

“… _.what if it’s part of my magic?”_

“… _.again, hypothetical.”_

_You growled under your breath._

“ _Will you stop being so stubborn?!”_

“ _I’m being practical.”_

“ _No, what you’re doing is not giving yourself the opportunity to hope. And you know, I get it – sometimes it’s easier to not hope for things, to just allow yourself to be swallowed up. It takes more than a lot of strength to claw your way out of that hole alone. So you know what you should do?”_

_You leaned in closer to him, looking up into his eye-lights._

“ _...you should hope for everyone else. If you can’t hope for yourself, at least summon some hope for them – they need you, Gaster. And now that you can actually talk to someone on the outside, you have a chance to try things out that you can’t from this side. I won’t give up – and I won’t let you give up, either.”_

_Gaster faltered for a moment, his expression uncertain._

“ _I….my dear, I don’t-”_

“ _Gaster, there’s got to be a device we could try, or something – I might not know much about magic, but you’re the former head scientist; all of those notes of yours that Alphys can’t decipher, all of those machines of yours that she’s been able to fix – don’t you think that there’s something we could try?”_

_Gaster gulped, his eye-lights wavering slightly as he thought it over._

“ _I….perhaps. Perhaps there is….no, wait….”_

_His eye-lights suddenly widened up with mute shock._

“ _Why did….why did I not consider this sooner…?”_

_Gaster frowned to himself, and you poked him hard in the chest to get his attention back to you – normally you would have been a little more polite, but you were still decidedly pissed at him._

“ _What have you thought of?”_

“ _Well….there is a machine that could possibly….potentially….tear a hole in the Void momentarily. But the issue would be finding a suitable tether in order to pull me out….and the fact that the machine needs to be repaired.”_

“ _What would work as a potential tether, then?”_

“… _.I have a theory.”_

_You raised your eyebrows pointedly for him to continue._

“ _You have figured out how to sense magic signatures with shocking accuracy, as I’ve observed.”_

“… _.you mean it’s not….normal?”_

“ _The general sensing is. But I have noted that you’re able to sense emotions with ease, as well as other things – I can tell from your interactions. At least, I think that I can….am I correct? Or is it just with Sans?”_

“… _.why would it matter if it’s just with Sans?….but no, it’s not just with him. I’ve felt emotions from lots of others – especially when magic is used on me.”_

_Gaster nodded, appearing to silently dismiss your question, which you found immediately irritating._

“ _My point being is that your abilities may prove to be the perfect tether for bringing me back. Of course, it would require you sensing my soul and making a connection for me to follow, but….I believe that it could potentially work.”_

_Your eyes widened as you let out an excited exhale._

“ _Wait, really? Oh, wow, this is-”_

“ _But I am afraid that this is a little more complicated than just that.”_

_You grumbled, rolling your eyes._

“ _Of course it is. So, what else would you need me to do, apart from continuing to practice the sensing thing?”_

“ _I...”_

_Gaster faltered once more, his expression hesitant, before steel appeared to enter his eye-lights, his facial features setting into a stern determination._

“ _I am afraid to say that I am far more damaged than I appear to be, y/n.”_

“ _...how do you mean?”_

“ _My soul….you understand, when the….accident...occurred, it put a great strain on my soul. The only reason I am able to exist, as I explained, is due to my previous experiments – that said, I did not….escape unscathed.”_

_He gestured to his slightly melted features sadly._

“ _A part of my soul broke off during the incident, splitting of into several other small pocket dimensions – all of which lie within the Underground.”_

_You felt your face blanch at the idea of little bits of Gaster just lying around._

“ _But with your abilities, I believe that you would be able to seek them out – without my soul intact, y/n, it will not matter if I escape or not. I will immediately destabilise upon leaving the Void.”_

“ _But if I find the pieces….you’ll be whole again, right?”_

_Gaster smiled grimly, nodding his head._

“ _Indeed.”_

“… _.ok then. It’s a plan – but you know what’s going to happen next, right?”_

_Gaster frowned, clearly not understanding._

“ _What, my dear?”_

 

“… _.I’m going to have to tell people about you. After all, how else am I going to get that machine fixed up?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. First off, thank you all for your support when I thought I might not be able to post this chapter - I love you all so much T-T  
> Now, here's for what's going on.  
> For, uh, no reason at all, I’ve managed to rip up all my intercostal muscles (hope that’s spelt right), along with trapping numerous nerves in that area, aaaaand I’ve got a lovely infection in the membrane between my lungs and my ribs. Yay. >.>  
> So I'll be in hospital for a while. BUT! I have subpar internet, so I'm hoping it won't be stopping me from posting and writing and stuff. So yay! :D  
> Again, thank you all so much >.< <3
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	61. A Cramped Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we wake up a little....squished....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

_Gaster’s features automatically twisted in panic as he shook his head vehemently – but you’d already known that this would be his reaction to you telling the others._

“ _There’s no other way to get the machine fixed, Gaster.”_

“ _No! No, they cannot know. As I said-”_

“ _I know. You think that it will destroy them. But I don’t see any other way that we’ll be able to get this broken machine of yours fixed up; and I know nobody better than Alphys for the job of fixing up machines.”_

_Gaster’s eye-lights wavered as he panicked, his mind in clear turmoil over the possible consequences._

“ _Where is this thing, anyway? The machine, I mean. I know that the labs are pretty huge, but-”_

“ _It isn’t in the laboratory.”_

_You frowned, looking at him in confusion for a moment – but upon seeing that he was still a little wrapped up in his own concerns, you sighed, deciding to press the issue for once; normally you would have at least tried to reach out to comfort him, but you were honestly still more than a little pissed off with him for lying to you. No, you needed information first – you could talk him through his anxieties later. As heartless as it sounded (and felt), getting a plan in place to remove him from the Void was far more pressing at present._

“ _Where is it, then?”_

_Gaster flinched out of his thoughts, looking up at you blankly for a moment before finding himself able to answer you._

“ _I believe that it is located beneath the house, in….in our personal lab.”_

_Your frown deepened, your mind a little numb from surprise._

“… _.there’s a lab….beneath the house? What the actual-”_

“ _It was needed at the time. It was difficult at first to travel to and from Snowdin for my work….I found that I was sacrificing my time with my sons in favour of….well. It allowed me the best of both worlds, for a time – and of course, began Sans’ fascination with what I was researching.”_

“… _.which was?”_

_Gaster sighed, running a hand over his features._

“ _I was….looking into alternatives for breaking the barrier. Of course, it was a task that I was set from the very start of our entrapment, but….when the human Chara fell to the Underground, there was a period of peace. It was during that time that I relaxed, and moved from the capital to Snowdin...”_

“ _...is that when Sans was born?”_

_Gaster snorted, shaking his head._

“ _Oh no, my dear, he came along much later. No, during that time I spent that majority of my hours….building the house….and then eventually I planned on, uh, Sans….but I should have been focused, then perhaps things would have played out a little less tragically...”_

_He sighed once more, his expression in turmoil, pained._

“ _You mean with….the royal children?”_

_He nodded, his sockets filled with regret._

“ _Indeed. If only I hadn’t dropped my guard….if I had been close at hand….those poor children.”_

“ _You can’t blame yourself for it – I mean, Sans said that they….planned the poisoning, right?”_

“ _If I had been more focused, I may have presented something that would have stopped them from thinking up such a drastic decision.”_

_He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he lost his mind to his memories momentarily; before shaking himself to keep on subject._

“ _In any case, that is where the machine is located. I believe that Sans has the key hidden in his room….knowing him, in a secret drawer or something just as silly as that.”_

_He chuckles, his expression bittersweet – it was odd, hearing him suddenly talk about such things openly. But then, you supposed that he’d been keeping in this kind of information the entire time you’d known him; it must be kind of nice to reminisce to someone with no regrets._

“ _...so…..when did you decide that you suddenly wanted kids?”_

_Gaster looked up at that, slightly surprised, before letting out a gentle snort of laughter._

“ _Oh my, well….honestly, it was…..loneliness. Selfishness, if I really think about it. Sans came first, fairly soon after house was finished. Then Papyrus, when….after the loss of the Royal children, I….I just….”_

“ _But didn’t you have Grillby?”_

“ _I hadn’t had the joy of meeting him at that time in my life. Odd really….he lived in Hotland with his family for quite the time before deciding on Snowdin, of all places – you would have thought that a fire elemental would have a little more sense.”_

_He chuckled, shaking his head._

“ _Still….I am glad that he did, obviously. But it is quite an odd thing that we didn’t meet in Hotland, considering I worked there the majority of the time….even if I was in the laboratory for most of said time.”_

_He hums, his eye-lights staring off into nothingness as he pondered._

“ _Yes, well….Papyrus had more or less just come into the world when Grillby finally made his presence known. Still, I do not regret creating my sons before finding my soul-mate – they are truly….the most...”_

_Gaster gulped, his hands balling into fists as he squeezed his sockets shut – you quickly hugged him close, knowing that, even if he’d annoyed the hell out of you, you couldn’t just leave him with this kind of pain._

“… _.they’re still there, Gaster. And they’ll be there when you get out of here.”_

_His stiff form gradually relaxed with your words, before he let out a soft sigh, patting your head as you released him._

“ _Thank you, my dear. Now, I….I must make a request. I know that….I know that you will need to inform the others of my presence at some point now, but….can it wait until your next tests are completed?”_

_You looked up at him with an irritated frown, his expression slightly nervous as you examined him – you supposed that your anger must have unnerved him somewhat._

“ _And why would I need to do that?”_

“… _.it’s not that you….well, I have a theory that you next exams may reveal some sort of connection to the Void, something that we may be able to utilise when creating a suitable tether for releasing me. But it is, as I said, just a theory. The choice is yours.”_

_You hummed, frowning as you considered._

“… _.what’s so important with these next tests, anyway? I mean, Sans is looking for a particular result, you’re looking for a particular result….can’t you just….explain?”_

_Gaster chuckled, his eye-lights winking in mirth as you allowed a slight scowl to settle on your features, showing your clear displeasure._

“ _Oh, I’m sorry my dear. Of course, I’ll….to put it plainly, I am looking for something on both tests. Perhaps a particular attribute that I can link to Void magic….or, and I’m sorry to say this, a result on the toxicity exam that may also suggest a link. I can’t say for certain what those results may be, but rest assured that I will be on the look-out….and I’m sure that Sans will pick up on anything obvious.”_

“… _.wait, Void magic?”_

“ _...it is not magic, per say….but it is related, in a strange sense. You are already aware that monsters are constructed of quite a different material than humans, no? Well, the Void is a little like that, I suppose…..think of it as similar to dark matter.”_

“… _.the spaces between stars...”_

_Gaster nodded, looking around himself before shuddering delicately – it seemed that all his years in the Void hadn’t exactly eroded any discomfort he felt in the place; so it wasn’t just you._

“ _But yes. I will be watching, and we shall then discuss a…..plan. If that is alright with you?”_

_You paused for a split second, before nodding with a slight sigh; at least you knew now that you were going to tell the others for sure – of course, it would still be hard to restrain yourself when seeing the pain Gaster’s ‘death’ was inflicting, but the for the time being, it would have to do. A clearer idea of this loose plan that Gaster had come up with would be a good thing, and surely worth the wait._

“ _...ok. I won’t say anything. But as soon as we know the results-”_

“ _Yes. I….I understand.”_

_You took in his sad expression with a slight wince; but you knew that this was for the best._

“ _It’ll be ok. I promise.”_

_He smiled at you sadly, letting out a gentle sigh._

“… _.I do hope that you’re correct, my dear.”_

“ _I will be. Now, uh, can you maybe….tell me what Sans is looking for? It’s honestly killing me.”_

_To your utter surprise, Gaster let out a long, loud laugh at your words, before shaking his head with a smirk._

“ _I’m afraid that I cannot, my dear.”_

“ _What?! Why not?!”_

_He leaned a little closer, ruffling your hair until you squeaked, wriggling to get away as he continued with his laughter._

“ _I am afraid that it is a matter between you and my son, y/n. Please trust me when I say that it’s better for you to find out on your own.”_

 

_~_

 

You awake with a soft groan, your muscles feeling stiff – but you were also nice and toasty, so you were torn between moving to allow a little more blood flow to your sore muscles and possibly loosing out on that sweet snuggly heat.

Giving into the soreness, you awake, blinking a little in surprise at the position you were in – you were wedged tightly between Sans and Papyrus on the couch, all three of you curled up in awkward positions; you had to wonder if skeleton monsters could get stiff….muscles? Wait, did that magic coating even count as a ‘muscle’?

You shook your head slightly, attempting to move off the couch – before groaning in exasperation as you noticed that Sans had wrapped his arms around you once again, not allowing any kind of chance for escape.

Luckily, it seemed that your movements had awoken Papyrus, who blinked his sockets sleepily in your direction and smiled sweetly, he usually loud, booming tones gently dulled with the remains of sleep.

“Good morning, sister! Did you sleep well? I’m so sorry for the impromptu sleep over! Though I promise that the Mettaton marathon that you missed out on was truly spectacular!”

You chuckled a little, wriggling ever so slightly in Sans’ hold, which only made him tug you closer, a soft whine of complaint escaping from him.

“I’m sorry for falling asleep so fast. I….how are you feeling?”

Papyrus’ expression faltered a little, before his smile appeared once more – but thankfully, you could tell that he wasn’t forcing it.

“I am much better, thank you…..and thank you for talking to my brother yesterday. He….while you slept, we spoke about a few things. I feel as if….I feel as if he may finally be opening up a little more.”

You smiled softly, giving up on your wriggling for the moment, instead relaxing yourself into Sans’ hold; he let out a satisfied hum in his sleep, as if pleased that your struggling had ceased – and suddenly you found yourself blushing as Papyrus began to openly smirk.

“Uh….a little help here? Your brother kind of….doesn’t let go.”

Papyrus actually snorted at that, and to your chagrin got up from the couch; which allowed Sans to snuggle you to him even closer, despite your desperate wiggling.

“Paps, please!”

“Oh my, I think my spaghetti’s burning – see you in a while, sister.”

“ _Papyrus!_ ”

He walked away, clearly laughing at your predicament while you stared at his retreating form in utter disbelief. Your shock was soon disrupted, however, by Sans’ soft sigh in your ear as he slept – your cheeks flushing as you suddenly computed the fact you were more or less sat in his lap at this point.

“Sans! Sans, please, let go.”

He simply groaned in reply, snuggling his cheek into the crook of your neck as your face flushed at the intimacy – you knew that it was just plain _wrong_ to stay in this position, given your feelings for him; it was almost like you were taking advantage of him without him even knowing.

“ _Sans!_ C’mon, please!”

You started to squirm in earnest in his lap, wriggling like a worm in the hopes that it would make him release you; before you froze up completely upon hearing him let out a very different kind of noise – it almost sounded like a growl, but much…..deeper. Now your face was lit up for a very different reason – some part of you knew that this was a far more….intimate sound.

His growls continued even as you stilled, his body moulded around yours as you shivered despite yourself, relishing in the feeling of his fingers kneading your sides in his sleep.

 

_No, no, this is so wrong – he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s asleep!_

 

Steeling yourself, you knew that you only had one option left, as it seemed to work pretty well when you were in this kind of situation last time – you screamed.

“ _SANS! LET GO!_ ”

You felt him jolt awake with a soft snort of alarm against your back, his fingers digging into your sides a little harder in reflex. Papyrus pokes his head curiously out of the kitchen, before retreating as you glared at him, betrayal clear on your features (not that he seemed bothered by such a thing – as a matter of fact, you swore that you could hear him giggling at your misfortunes).

Sighing in slight relief that you hadn’t been flung from the couch this time around, you turn your body a little to look at Sans – only to see that he was blushing profusely.

“...uh….hey there, bud.”

You chuckle, going to move off at him at last; only to have him grasp you to him just a touch tighter, leaving you frowning.

“...is there a reason I’m not allowed to go yet?”

He chuckled, sleepily leaning back into the depths of the couch, his hands hovering over the surface of your back.

“Heh. Your back’s probably all sore, right? Just wondered if you wanted me to heal it up.”

You grumble, but begrudgingly lean back into his touch in agreement, leaving him to snort softly under his breath as his hands got to work on your sore muscles.

Eventually you relaxed completely, letting out a soft sigh as his magic began to sink into your skin; before you blinked slightly as you registered the feelings that you were receiving through the link.

He tired, sure, but oddly happy – peaceful. He was focusing on making you feel better….but he was also….distracted? It was a little hard to read.

“….Sans?”

He hummed in reply, hands moving deftly over the centre of your back.

“….is it normal to….feel emotions through magic?”

His hands stilled at that, magic quite promptly shutting off with his surprise as he paused for a good, long moment – before he started to chuckle.

“….well, yeah, for _monsters_. I’m kind of…..heh.”

He continued his laughter, starting to move his hands again, his magic re-appearing; you shudder slightly in reaction, your skin tingling. But you could tell through the link that he was really happy; and you could only guess it was due to your sensing abilities, for some odd reason.

“….why does it make you so happy? Me being able to sense, I mean.”

Sans sighed gently, his exhale tickling the back of your neck.

“It’s….difficult to explain.”

“Try me.”

He snorted, poking your side, making you squeak and turn to him with an offended expression. He openly smirked at you, before turning you back around with a soft tutting noise so he could continue the healing process.

“Well….monsters communicate through it, more or less. Magic in general, I mean. As you already know, we’re pretty in tune with our souls, so I guess…..it’s just kinda cool that you can do it too. Unexpected.”

You hummed in agreement to that, before letting out a soft groan as he healed up a particularly painful spot. His hands stilled for the briefest of moments, before slowly sliding up to your neck, settling on your shoulders and rubbing gently, his thumbs working the muscles on the back of your neck deliciously. You can’t help letting out another soft whine at the feeling – you hadn’t even realised that you neck was that sore.

“Is that….nice?”

You nod, letting out another pleased noise as he continued to massage your neck.

“Huh.”

“What?”

You wince a little at hearing the slight slur in your voice – you couldn’t help it. His touch upon your neck was literally magic, after all.

“Heh. Didn’t know your neck was a weak spot, that’s all.”

You immediately frowned, wriggling in his grasp as your face flushed – he laughed openly at your reaction, holding your squirming form to his body with ease.

“Let me _go!_ ”

“But y/n, I’ve not even finished up yet.”

You froze slightly at the purring tone of his voice, your face heating up even more.

“Stop teasing me!”

He chuckled darkly; leaving you to freeze up totally as you felt his breath hovering over the surface of your neck – he was dangerously close, you practically feel his magic on your skin-

“Sister! Brother! Breakfast is served!”

Sans let out a loud groan from behind you, his arms releasing you – you immediately turn and poke him in the side as hard as you possibly can.

“Hey! What was that for?”

You lean in a little closer, ignoring the furious tears in your eyes as you jabbed a finger in his chest, glaring up at his surprised face.

“Stop. Teasing. Me.”

You promptly stomped off to the bathroom to cool off, leaving a confused Sans in your wake.

 

~

 

“….you still mad at me?”

You look up from tying on your sneakers, watching quietly as Sans shifted with slight discomfort in front of you. Papyrus had happily stomped off to work more or less straight after breakfast – but not before clutching you up in the tightest of hugs, whispering a quick thank you to you; you were just happy that your sleepover snuggle on the couch had been enough to lift his spirits after the turmoil which was yesterday. Or perhaps it was due to Sans finally opening up to him a little?

Speaking of Sans, _yes_ , you were still a little ‘mad’ at him – mad meaning mortified at yourself for succumbing so easily to your stupid affections for him while he was clearly teasing you.

So instead of answering him, you narrowed your eyes briefly, before returning your gaze back down to finish off your shoes. You hear Sans sigh heavily, before feeling him sit himself down heavily next to you on the couch.

“...m’sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you.”

You look back at him regretfully after hearing his genuinely apologetic tones, seeing that he has his arms open to you, smiling awkwardly.

“Heh….wanna apology/forgiveness hug?”

After another brief pause, you chuckle, before moving into his arms to hug him back – he hums in a pleased manner in the back of his throat, before coughing slightly and speaking in a strangely formal tone.

“Y/n. I hereby apologise for anything I’ve done to tick you off.”

“Pfft. You don’t even know what you’ve done, do you?”

He goes silent at that, before shrugging; you giggle even more, speaking in a teasing tone.

“How can this be a real apology hug if you don’t know what you’re apologising for?”

“Tell me, then.”

You gulped at that, before vehemently shaking your head.

“….don’t worry about it. It’s not really you at all – it’s just me being stupid.”

“Then _this_ is the moment to forgive yourself. Official hug and all that.”

You snort, pulling back to shove him lightly in the chest while he grinned his cat-like grin at you; though it was more than clear that he was incredibly relieved at being ‘forgiven’.

“Heh. You basically ready to go, bud?”

Your brow puckered at that, leaving you to reflexively put your arms around yourself in concern – a lot was riding on today after all, some of which you didn’t even know about, thanks to Sans’ secrecy. You could only be somewhat thankful that Gaster had decided on telling you a _little_. But still, a little still wasn’t enough for you to go on – and if you didn’t have the qualities Gaster was looking for?

 

….what if it meant you’d never be able to get him out of the Void?

 

Sans frowned heavily at your actions, his brow pulling together.

“….hey. It’s gonna be ok.”

You tried to force on a smile up at him, which he instantly narrows his sockets at, not falling for it in the least. Very, very deliberately, he reaches out and pokes the flesh of your cheek, his deadly serious expression making you giggle despite your nervousness. His expression immediately becomes warm and fond at that, his eye-lights dilating as he examined your expression intently.

“...there you go. Promise you bud….you’re gonna be ok.”

“...I know I am. But I just….I’m nervous.”

He sighs gently, pulling you back into a hug despite your slightly surprised squeak.

“...I’m sorry that I’ve put pressure on you about today….but don’t look at it like that. To be honest….those results don’t matter to me much any-more. Still I….I just want to make sure that you’re _safe_. That’s more or less what it’s about, ok? So….don’t worry.”

You sighed gently against him, smiling softly into his hoodie – of course, it wasn’t _just_ his worry over the results that you were concerned about, but he wasn’t to know that; and you more than appreciated his efforts in trying to comfort you, even if he was probably telling a white lie about the results….or at least, you suspected as such.

“Thank you. Shall we….shall we go then?”

 

Without another word, Sans teleports the both of you to Alphys’ lab, his arms still securely wrapped around you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I'm out of hospital, yay! Still propped up with a load of cushions so I can breathe, but yay! xD
> 
> Also, looooook! :o Another piece of gorgeous, gorgeous fanart T-T This time from the lovely the-wuppeteer! Thank you so much taking the time to draw out the scene in the forest, it's lovely :') SO YEAH CHECK IT OUT, IT'S AWESOME
> 
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/180412957296/uhhhhmmm-ok-well-i-got-back-into-undertale-so
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	62. Dark Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we go through the toxicity exam....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You certainly didn’t expect the sight in front of you when you initially arrived at the lab – though you probably should have, considering everything.

For there, on the couch, Alphys was most certainly…. _engaged_ with Undyne.

You squeaked, instantly covering your eyes while Sans coughed as loud as he could muster, turning his head away pointedly; Alphys all but shrieked in surprise, leaping off Undyne’s lap, leaving the latter to growl slightly under her breath.

“URGH. Of freakin’ _course_ you’d appear now.”

“Heh. Sorry ‘Dyne – _cod_ have arrived at a better time, it seems.”

Undyne only groaned all the more, allowing her head to fall back against the couch with a dull thud as Alphys hurriedly pulled a t-shirt on, still squeaking in horrified alarm. But when she was finished you finally uncovered your eyes, looking over at her with clear apologies in your expression – but it seemed that she was a little more forgiving than Undyne, even if her face was more or less utterly consumed with blush.

“I-i-it’s alright! W-w-we should pro-probably be t-thinking of the t-tests anyway...”

Alphys lets out a more than slightly nervous laugh, earning a concerned look from her girlfriend, who quickly stood and wrapped her in a hug – or more accurately, picked her up and held her close. You supposed that it made a little more sense, considering Undyne was nearing Papyrus levels in height.

“Hey, it’s ok babe – it’s these nerds who are in the wrong here, barging in like that!”

She glared over to you and Sans; he simply shrugged, smirk in place.

“Heh, the perks of shortcuts. Still, pretty good that you two are getting on so well – happy for you.”

Undyne blushed a little herself at that, her fierce expression instantly transforming into a slightly goofy grin of happiness as she looked down at the lizard monster in her arms; that is, before Sans let out yet another very pointed cough, raising his brow bones. Undyne rolled her eyes, gently placing Alphys back down on the ground, stroking the scales on her head tenderly as she did so – before placing her hands on her hips in a business-like manner, glaring at the two of you.

“….WELL?! What are you waiting for?!”

Grumbling in a frustrated manner to herself, she promptly turned on her heel, stomping off down to the hallways of the lab.

“...oh. I’m guessing that she knows where to go?”

“Yup, I imagine so – she’s pretty familiar with these tests, right Alph?”

Alphys nodded, looking a little worriedly down the hall after her newly acquired girlfriend.

“S-still, w-we should follow after h-her.”

Sans grunted in an affirmative manner, shuffling off down the hallway, leaving you and Alphys to chat a little as you walked.

“So, how are things?”

Alphys giggled, holding her claws to her face as she blushed.

“R-really well. T-thank you s-so much – I d-don’t think I-I would have had th-the confidence to t-tell her alone.”

“I’m really happy for you!”

Alphys smiled softly, her cheeks still pleasantly flushed – before she looked up at you with slight concern in her eyes.

“A-are you ok?”

“About today? I’m a little….nervous, I guess.”

“T-that’s to be e-expected. S-still…..don’t worry. You’ll b-be ok, y/n.”

“Heh….I’m not even sure that I want to know about my negative side, you know? It’s kind of….off-putting.”

Alphys made a sympathetic noise in the back of her throat, Sans looking back briefly with a worried expression of his own, before continuing on – not that you really minded about his obvious eavesdropping.

“I-I understand completely. B-but it might h-help with your HP s-situation….s-sometimes it helps to know….w-where your pain is. O-oh, I’m s-sorry, I didn’t-”

“No. You’re right….it might help.”

Alphys smiled up at you, patting your arm slightly in support.

“S-still, we’re here f-for you, y/n.”

You grinned back at her.

“Yeah, I know.”

Sans was stood in front of the door which obviously led to this new testing room – it was a little ways away from where you’d taken your sensory test. It was kind of shocking how much of a maze the lab contained; you could only imagine how deep it actually went.

“Ready, bud?”

You gulped a little despite yourself, before nodding determinedly; Sans grinned in response, opening up the door for you.

The room was pretty simple compared to the others that you’d been in, and fairly small, with a control desk off to the side – but incredibly intimidating thanks to the surgical chair in the centre; a large….you assumed it was a scanner….hovered over the chair, but what was the most intimidating was the fact that the chair had very clear restraints attached.

 

Which meant that this test required you being tied down.

 

You shivered, but steeled yourself and walked into the room; Undyne was standing over by the control desk, her foot tapping impatiently as she looked at your small group entering the room.

“It’s about freakin’ time! What took you so long?”

You ignored her pointedly, your gaze locked onto the chair; you couldn’t help it. It was a complete horror movie stereotype – something straight out of a torture scene. Undyne scoffed under her breath, walking over and punching you as gently as she could on your arm; regardless, you were still fairly certain that she’d left a bruise.

“Hey! Y/n, it’s going to be ok – stop being such a wimp.”

“Pfft, you can’t exactly blame me! I mean, you’ve got to admit, that thing is kinda scary.”

She looked over to the chair for a long moment, before letting out a guffaw of incredulous laughter.

“Ha! It’s a _chair_ , what’s there to be scared of, you weenie?”

“...I’m going to be tied down, right?”

She falted a little, looking down at you with a furrowed brow.

“...not what you think, nerd. It’s not there to keep you in place for anything painful – it’s just to keep you still while the scanner does it’s thing. The test kind of….it can make your body move without you meaning to, if you know what I mean. Not painful at all – don’t worry about it.”

She let out a slight chortle, shaking your shoulder with her shark-like grin.

“Besides! You might be a wimp, but you’re a bad-ass wimp. You’ve got this.”

You chuckle despite yourself; it was pretty hard to be scared when everyone seemed to have your back on this.

“...ok then. So what can I expect with this thing?”

Undyne straightened, her grin growing wider as she glared down at you with something akin to pride.

“It’s actually pretty cool! For both tests you’ll just have to sit tight – the toxicity exam is the easier one, so we’ll probably do that first….right Alphy?”

She looks over your shoulder, and you follow her gaze; Sans was leant against the wall with a casual smile, even if you could see the slight concern in his sockets as he stared right at you – you smiled over at him reassuringly, happy when he grinned back at you.

Alphys, who had been standing just by the door until being addressed, seemed to shake herself slightly, shutting the door and scampering over to the control desk with a nod.

“Y-yes. It’s a-also a lot…..q-quicker. Th-though I’m so s-sorry y/n – they’re b-both a little long, t-time wise. T-the first t-test will t-take around t-ten minutes…..but the molecular a-attributes test takes….half an h-hour. I’m so sorry!”

You wince slightly, but look over her reassuringly – she couldn’t help how long the tests were, after all. Besides….it was Gaster’s fault, considering he suggested them in the first place – he must have known that a ‘torture chair’ would be involved. But they were necessary tests, and would give you a clearer idea on things…..

 

….though you were still more than likely going to complain at him about it.

 

“It’s ok, don’t worry about it. So, what’s the first test like?”

Sans coughed slightly from his spot on the wall.

“It’s a lil’ like a quiz - ‘cept you’ll have your soul out, obviously. You just answer questions, and the scanner watches how your soul responds. But you need to keep completely still, hence the restraints.”

“….so the other test is where I’ll be moving around without realising it?”

“It’s kinda different, as tests go. You’ll basically be dreaming vividly, but with your soul out so the scanner can pick up on everything – nothing awful, bud.”

You hum thoughtfully – they certainly didn’t sound too bad.

“Okay….guess this means you’ll be leaving soon?”

Sans laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck while Undyne clearly snorted at his reaction.

“Heh….yeah. But I’ll be waiting for you outside, don’t worry.”

The corners of your lips lifted in response to his words, trying to put all of your confidence into the smile.

“Okay. See you on the flip-side, I guess.”

Sans chuckled, waving lazily at you before blipping out – and probably straight onto Alphys’ couch.

You turned back to the other monsters with a soft sigh, shifting your feet a little; despite the tests being pretty harmless, you were still more than a little nervous….you had to wonder what results were so important to Sans, and you had to hope that your results would offer up a perfect possibility of a tether to Gaster.

It was a lot.

But regardless, you straightened your back and smiled at your friends; you had to be strong.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

Undyne grinned, baring her teeth at you, Alphys smiling softly behind her while her claws tapped buttons on the control desk as she prepared the scanner.

“Heh, c’mon then nerd – let’s get you comfortable.”

You follow Undyne over to the ‘torture chair’, sliding onto the smooth surface and laying yourself down – Undyne then proceeded to strap down both your arms and legs, before adding another few straps across your shoulders, chest and hips; you couldn’t move, even if you wanted to. The restraints weren’t awfully tight, however – just tight enough to ensure you couldn’t move, but you weren’t uncomfortable.

She added one final restraint over your forehead, giving you no other option but to stare up at the scanner looming above you – from this angle, it was a little more intimidating….it reminded you of those stereotypical alien kidnapping scenes. Luckily, you knew that Undyne wasn’t too interested in stealing your spleen. Or at least, you hoped that she wasn’t.

“There you go, nerd – comfy?”

“Pfft, as much as I can be.”

Undyne snorted from somewhere to your right as she headed over to the control desk.

“...o-ok, I think t-that’s all s-set up. I’m g-going to come over a-and take o-out your soul, ok y/n?”

You couldn’t nod in response, so you simply hummed out an affirmative sound, her feet tapping along the floor as she approached you; you couldn’t even jump in surprise when she placed her claws over your hand comfortingly. She seemed to understand however, softly apologising – before you felt the familiar tugging of your soul being released, and you saw the kaleidoscope of colours reflecting off the ceiling.

You heard Undyne let out a soft disbelieving noise across the room as your soul appeared.

“Oh man….kinda forgot how that….looks.”

“What, the funky colours or the cracks?”

She barks out a laugh at your blasé attitude as Alphys tapped her way back over to the desk.

“Heh, both, I guess? Still, you shouldn’t feel bad about it – it’s a pretty bad-ass soul.”

You chuckled, before wincing slightly when you realised that you couldn’t shrug in response – already the being tied down thing was becoming irritating.

“I guess. I mean….I don’t really know much about souls, but the colours are pretty.”

Undyne laughed loud at that, Alphys giggling softly under her breath with her.

“….a-are you r-ready? I t-think I’ve prepared everything.”

“You’ve done great as usual, babe.”

“Pfft, stop you two – flirt on your own time.”

Undyne chortled, Alphys letting out a slightly choked sound.

“R-right, sorry. R-ready?”

“Yup! Let’s do this.”

With a decisive tap, the scanner hums into life above you, casting a gentle light over your form – sadly this only increased the similarity to an alien abduction.

“Al-alright, y/n, I’m going to a-ask you a series of q-questions, as you know, a-and w-we’ll see how your soul r-responds.”

“...does it respond physically? I mean, can you actually see it?”

“Kinda. Souls kind of….flare up when especially emotional, or they dim – we’re looking for the dimming part, obviously.”

“A-and the s-scanner will pick up o-on the finer details.”

“Huh. Welp, ok then, hit me.”

Alphys lets out a slightly shaky exhale; you hear Undyne making a comforting noise, obviously attempting to soothe her nerves – they really did make a good couple.

“A-alright….w-what would constitute a p-perfect day to you?”

You blinked, before letting out a quiet laugh of disbelief.

“….seriously?”

“Just answer the question, nerd.”

“Um...I don’t know. Just….a normal day down here, hanging out with you guys – it’s honestly the happiest I’ve ever been, so that would equal perfect….right?”

Alphys lets out a happy squeak at your words, while Undyne simply grumbles – she really didn’t know how to respond well to compliments, it seemed.

“F-for what in your life do y-you feel m-most grateful?”

“Easy. Falling down into the Underground.”

Undyne lets out a loud snort, muttering something about you being a masochist.

“W-what is your m-most treasured memory?”

You hummed slightly, having to think on it for a moment – you’d had a lot since you’d fallen, but you couldn’t say the same for the surface; suddenly it hit you, and you stifled a laugh.

“Honestly, I think it’s when I first met Sans – it was hilarious, he pulled out a whoopee cushion on me.”

You couldn’t help giggling at the memory, before continuing – but as you giggled, you could have sworn that for a split second the kaleidoscope lights around you shone just that little bit brighter.

“I mean, I’ve had a lot of great memories down here, but….I don’t know, it was just so _funny_. I mean, I was also terrified, but….it was hilarious.”

“That’s ‘cause you fancied him, ya weenie.”

“I didn’t like him like that back then! I mean, I liked him as a friend, and I knew for sure that we’d get on, I guess? You know, that kindred feeling.”

Alphys started to giggle, making you frown and flush, grumbling in an embarrassed manner to yourself – before she continued on.

“G-given t-the choice of anyone i-in the world, who would you w-want as a dinner guest?”

“….pfft, where are you getting all of these? Uh, I think it’d have to be Papyrus – he loves cooking, so I’m sure that he’d appreciate it.”

“T-they’re questions to….settle you f-for the nasty ones.”

You gulped – you’d known that this was too easy.

“Ok….so when are the bad ones coming?”

The room went deadly silent at that, and you couldn’t help but wince – obviously the nasty questions were coming up soon.

“W-when did you l-last sing to yourself?”

“...um...I think it was whenever I cooked last. I like to just randomly sing something while I’m cooking – or I listen to music and sing along.”

“What, you don’t sing in the shower?”

“I guess? Sometimes? Depends on if I need to hurry or not.”

“...I’m s-sorry y/n, I’m g-going to start a-asking serious questions now.”

You bit your lip, but hummed out an affirmative anyway.

“...d-do y-you have a s-secret hunch about….how you’ll d-die?”

 

_Yipes. She wasn’t kidding._

 

“Well...I mean...I obviously worry about my soul being the only way out for you guys….otherwise….. _heh_. Actually, if I’m a mage, I can’t even say old age, can I? Which means….I’d either have to die of an illness or….I’d have to be killed. I mean….that’s how it works, right?”

This time you do notice a difference in the lights around you – they seemed to fade a little, but as soon as you noticed them, they flared back up.

“You’re gonna have to shut your eyes, nerd – you’re disrupting the test.”

“Oh, crap – sorry.”

You quickly close your eyes; but at least you knew that your soul did seem to be giving off some kind of result.

“If y-you could change a-anything about the w-way you were raised, what w-would it be?”

You let out a long breath, unsure of how to answer.

“...I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t have….a great upbringing. But it kind of made me _me_ , if you know what I’m saying. But if I could say….I’d want to wish for a _normal_ upbringing.”

You didn’t specify anything else, not wanting to talk about it – but it didn’t seem to bother Alphys that you didn’t continue.

“How d-do you feel about y-your relationship with y-your parents?”

You gulp, biting your lips and trying to shift in discomfort – and only finding yourself being more discomforted when you found you obviously couldn’t move.

“...I don’t have one. They’re dead, I never knew them.”

You hear slight gasps from across the room, and you couldn’t help your wince.

“...I’m sorry, y/n – that sucks.”

You let out a humourless laugh.

“Yeah, a little bit, but never-mind. I can’t change it, after all – no point losing sleep over it.”

There’s a long beat of silence, before Alphys lets out a heavy sigh.

“W-when did y-you last cry?”

This one was easier. Well, for you, at least.

“That was yesterday….it was Sans and Papyrus’ father’s….you know.”

You hear Undyne let out a heaving breath, before she growled slightly.

“Urgh, this is freakin’ depressing me – let’s just get this done quick, please.”

You can’t help but laugh a little at her words, even if it’s just a touch too bitter to be considered cheerful – but then, you couldn’t really blame yourself, given the situation.

“...h-have you ever h-hated anyone?”

“...I’ve disliked people, and avoided them….but I can’t honestly say that I’ve hated anyone, not really. It’s just kind of….it’s a word that suggests total loathing, right?”

You laugh awkwardly; it was a difficult question, considering that you’d more or less done your best to avoid people on the surface.

“...I-I’m sorry, y/n. T-this is the last q-question, but, uh….w-what’s your w-worst me-memory?”

You breath hitches without your control, your body freezing up.

“...I’m sorry, I don’t think that I….can answer that.”

The room is silent for a moment, before Alphys sighs gently.

“...a-all right. T-then, c-can you at le-least think o-of it?”

 

_I don’t want to. I don’t want to remember it. I don’t want to think about it._

 

“...ok, I’ll try.”

 

_I DON’T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT._

 

“J-just do y-your best.”

 

_**I DON’T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT.** _

 

Tightening your muscles, you ignore your mind’s cries, bringing yourself back to that time….

The scent of grass around you.

The sun on your back.

The dirt under your fingernails.

And up your nose.

As your face is pressed into it.

 

_Their laughter._

 

Your cries as they…. _as they-_

The room is disrupted by the sound of a phone ringing, bringing you out of your thoughts with a gasp – and you assumed that it was Alphys’, given the fact that the ringtone was none other than the opening to Mew Mew Kissy Cutie.

“S-sorry, y/n – u-um, hello?”

You hear the faint murmur of someone talking hurriedly on the other side; but try as you might, you couldn’t hear a word.

“..o-oh no. I’m s-so sorry, I-I didn’t k-know! W-well, I mean, I c-could s-see that it was-”

The voice speaks up again, before promptly hanging up – or you could assume that’s what happened, given the sudden tell-tale tone echoing throughout the room. Alphys sighed softly, before clicking at something on the control desk.

“….t-that’s enough for n-now, y/n.”

“..huh? But I didn’t even finish thinking of the memory?”

“Y-you don’t n-need to. I-I…..I think I’ve got enough.”

You hummed in gentle thought, finally opening up your eyes. You had to admit, you felt pretty relieved – you really didn’t want to trigger a potential panic attack for the sake of a test. You jolt a little out of your thoughts at the sound of Undyne letting out a whoop of excitement, scampering over to fetch something.

“Awesome! Now we get to start the FUN test at _last._ ”

She appears over you, brandishing a large, glowing syringe, her grin frankly wicked.

 

“Fuhuhu, you ready, punk?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. There you go. Hinting at tragic backstory. *insert dramatic music here*
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	63. Just A Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we overcome the trails our soul has to offer.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

Hey guys. I'm putting a warning at the start of this chapter.  
There is extreme violence here, along with other dark themes. The start of such things are when the italics start, and I'll be putting a short summery at the end of the chapter for those who don't want to read that, m'kay? :3   
Welp, let's get to it!  


\------------------  


“….Undyne, what the _actual_ fuck.”

She lets out another peal of giddy laughter as you instinctively try to shrink away from the glowing syringe in her hand, despite being tied down.

“U-Undyne! Stop s-scaring her.”

She chuckled, her luminescent green eye alight with mischief.

“Fuhuhu. Sorry, just wanted to lighten the mood!”

“...dude. If I could kick you right now, I would.”

She lets out a bark of laughter, grinning her shark-like grin down at you as she twirled the syringe carelessly.

“Heh, no you wouldn’t, you wuss. And you _know_ you wouldn’t.”

“….yeah, I’m holding you to that. Totally going to kick you now when I can.”

She snorted, rolling her eye at you, her expression more than droll.

“Suuure. Anyway, you ready for this?”

“….and what is ‘this’, per say?”

“The molecular attributes exam, ya weenie!”

You smirked up at her, keeping your eyes wide as possible to still feign your ‘ignorance’, which she scowled at, not buying it for a second.

“A-are you ok, y/n?”

“Yeah, I’m alright. A bit peeved at a certain fish, but otherwise fine.”

Undyne narrowed her eye at that, opening her mouth to continue the banter between the two of you – but Alphys cut in quickly and quite successfully.

“A-are you s-sure? Your s-soul got a l-little….dark.”

“Well DUH! That’s why I’m cheering her up.”

“You’re harassing me!”

“NGAHH! IT DOESN’T MATTER, IT’S WORKING!”

You rolled your eyes, smiling despite yourself, while Alphys lets out a relieved sigh nearby.

“O-ok….I’ll t-try to explain t-this test a li-little. We’ll administer t-the serum, a-and then y-you’ll fall into a controlled s-sleep for about 30 minutes – where y-you’ll experience vivid dreams.”

“It’s like a trial! Your soul testing itself, basically.”

“….so the serum….does that?”

“Yeah! It analyses your main attributes and tests your reactions to situations – that’s what the scanner looks at. Pretty dope, right?”

You blink, still trying to compute what this meant.

“….I guess? Just a bit of a weird concept to get my head around, to be honest….heh, it’s almost like science-fiction.”

Alphys let out a soft snort of laughter at that, while Undyne rolls her eye, muttering the word ‘loser’ under her breath – you supposed comparing a ‘cool’ test to something nerdy was ruining the excitement for her.

“So who was on the phone? They sounded a little ticked off.”

There’s an awkward pause, before Alphys laughed nervously – you really wished that you could turn to see her, but thanks to being bound to the table there was no chance of such a thing.

“O-oh, n-nobody! J-just something t-to do with w-work.”

You let out a suspicious humming noise, but didn’t pursue it – besides, it was a little weird trying to talk to either of them without being able to move an inch.

“...okaaay then. So when are we doing this?”

“J-just let m-me set up t-the scanner….”

You hear her tapping her way back over to the control desk, clicking buttons decisively while Undyne hovered over you, her expression clearly excited.

“...huh. You really want to stab me with that, don’t you?”

She narrowed her eye at you, her expression now vaguely offended.

“I wanna see your results, ya nerd! You have more than four attributes, right?! It’s crazy! Plus, it’ll be pretty definitive about the whole mage thing.”

“How so?”

“As we m-mentioned earlier, i-it tests your s-soul’s response t-to the ‘trials’ a-as well – h-humans are purely p-physical, whereas a m-mage w-would respond with s-something relating t-to magic.”

“Oh, ok. Cool, I guess.”

“I-it’s pretty l-lucky that y-you thought o-of this test – it’s n-not something I w-would have t-thought to try, c-considering we usually only use it on t-the Royal Guard.”

You laugh a little awkwardly, knowing full well that Gaster was the one to actually think of it.

“O-ok, I think that w-we’re j-just about ready, so l-let’s-”

Alphys is cut off as you let out a loud hiss of pain, given the fact that Undyne had promptly stabbed the needle into your arm and shoved down the plunger.

“….yeah, you are _totally_ getting a kick now. No, wait – two, since I’m feeling generous.”

Undyne just laughed, grinning down at you as your eye-lids started to flutter shut against your will.

“Heh, sweet dreams, nerd.”

  


~

  


_You sat up with a jolt, gasping – you were still in the testing room, but you were no longer bound, and there was nobody in the room with you._

“… _.guys? Are you….here?”_

_You blinked in confusion, rubbing at your temples before sliding off the table to walk around – weren’t you supposed to be doing the test thing? Maybe you’d already completed the test….but then, why had you woken up alone? Had something gone wrong?_

_Of course, there was always the possibility that you were actually unconscious right now – but it just felt so…. **real**._

_You frowned, deliberately pinching yourself as hard as you could, before wincing – it hurt like a bitch. But then, Alphys had said that the ‘dreams’ were vivid….you supposed all you could do was look around and try to figure out if you were truly unconscious or not._

_Shrugging, you walked cautiously out the door, heading back towards the living room; which was, again, empty. Sighing to yourself, you ponder what you can do – before an idea occurs to you. Perhaps you could try to sense if anyone’s magic signature was around? That would surely confirm if you were conscious or not, right?_

_You concentrate on ‘listening’ for a moment – and you immediately sense Alphys and Undyne close to you, as well as your own familiar humming. You supposed that more or less confirmed that this was just a dream, considering your true body must still be in the testing room, safe and (sadly) strapped down. So you really were currently going through a ‘trial’._

  


_But….what kind?_

  


_You grumbled, making your way towards the doors of the lab and out into Hotland – before shrieking and jumping back into the lab, you heart hammering hard in your chest with shock._

_For outside the doors, there was no ground at all – only a drop into bubbling magma. The pure heat from it was shocking in itself – you could feel the skin of your cheeks starting to sting at this proximity alone._

“ _...you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”_

_You already knew that you could experience pain in this ‘world’ – no way in hell were you going to purposely burn yourself into oblivion, not unless you could help it._

_Sighing, you turn around to head back into the lab, hoping for another means of escape._

  


_Before you freeze in place, eyes wide._

  


_Standing in the entrance to the lab hallways was what appeared to be an enormous tiger….no, it was a giant wolf….no, wait-_

_You shook your head, trying to focus your eyes – the image kept switching in front of you, swimming between different forms. All you knew for sure was that it was a threat; and judging from the growling coming from….whatever it was, it really wasn’t happy with your presence._

_Holding out your hands, you try to keep your eyes on it, even if the swimming imagery was making you feel vaguely sick._

“ _Hey….uh….scary thing. Look, I really, really don’t want to go swimming in lava today, so it’d be cool if you just….let me go past?”_

_The creature snarled in response, stepping closer._

“ _Welp, can’t blame a girl for trying, I suppose.”_

_For a moment, you both simply stare at each other – before you made a mad dash for the couch, scrambling to get behind it as the thing roared, paws pounding hard on the flooring as it gave chase – but you made it behind the couch just in time, the body of the beast slamming against the furniture as it missed you. Letting out a terrified shriek, you take advantage of the beast being slightly stunned from the impact, running as fast as you could towards the corridors, and hopefully into a room that you’d be able to lock._

  


_**Not fast enough.** _

  


_You let out a genuine scream of agony when you feel it land on your back, claws digging into your flesh as your body lands hard on the floor, pinned. You shriek desperately, begging for freedom as you try to claw yourself away; before stopping as a strange sensation of a….ripping, yanking…._

_You see a very familiar human arm fly down the hallway as the beast tosses it’s head, letting out a howl._

  


_**My arm.** _

  


_It was going to rip you to literal pieces – and there was nothing you could do about it._

_Clenching your remaining fist, you sob out loud as the agony starts to set in, your blood pooling around you as the beast snarled on your back, taking a hefty chunk out of your shoulder._

  


_**No. No, it can’t end like this!** _

  


_But what could you do? You couldn’t overpower this thing!_

  


_**I need to try!** _

  


_Gritting your teeth, you yell as deep as you could, pushing your body up, kicking with your legs – you’d read somewhere that animals responded to lower tones as something threatening, after all._

_The beast was unaffected however, choosing instead to pin down one of your desperately kicking legs, digging it’s fangs into your ankle – and before you knew it, your leg from the knee down had joined your arm down the hallway; you were barely aware that you were screaming until your throat gave out._

_There had to be something…. **something** …._

_Teeth dug into the soft flesh around your spine, ripping off a strip, your blood showering over you, sticky and warm._

_It was then at that moment you remembered what Undyne had said – that mages would respond with magic during this test._

  


_**I don’t know how to use magic!** _

  


_But maybe you could try. After all, what did you have to lose? This thing was going to eat you, anyway. You needed to be brave, **believe in yourself, dammit.**_

_You cough, blood filling your mouth and running out of your nose, before you growl, knowing deep inside yourself that your mental strength was going to be integral to winning against this thing._

  


_**If I can win, that is.** _

  


_Ignoring the beast as best you could as it feasted on the soft flesh around your sides, you concentrated, trying to find that sweet humming that was your soul – and thankfully, you did, even if it was screaming in distress. You focused harder, gritting your teeth, ignoring the feeling of your intestines being forcibly ripped from your body._

  


_Get off._

  


_Claws dug into the back of your head, your face slamming down into your own blood as the beast took another chunk from your neck._

  


_GET OFF!_

  


_You feel the teeth start to close around your shoulder, preparing to rip off your other arm-_

  


_**GET OFF!** _

  


_It was at that moment you felt something…. **snap** ….deep within you. And suddenly, the beast was lifted from your body, and flung down the hallway with such a force that when it hit the far wall, it simply exploded, pieces of it raining down all around you while you sobbed, trying to lift yourself out of your blood-_

_Before you blinked. You weren’t lying down any-more – hell, you weren’t even in the lab. You were stood in your old workspace on the surface, by your old desk. And honestly, you’d never been more happy to see it. You patted yourself down, letting out a giddy laugh as you saw that you were in one piece – before you felt bile rise up in your throat as you promptly threw up._

“ _Heh….heh….guess I need to take a sick day….”_

_You let out a snort, which quickly dissolved into a sob as you realised what you’d just been through – even if it had been just a dream._

“… _.why the fuck did Undyne say this was fun, again?!”_

_Growling under your breath and vowing to give her three kicks now instead of two, you mentally and physically shake yourself – you had to continue on. You didn’t know how much time had passed, but you were more than aware that you had thirty minutes trapped in this dreamscape – you just hoped you wouldn’t get eaten again._

_Steeling yourself, you straighten, looking around, absently wiping the bile from your lips. Yup, this was your old workplace, alright. And given your previous trial, you had a feeling that you knew where to find your next challenge._

_You walked to McFarlen’s office with as stern an expression you could summon, only faltering slightly at the sight of him, sat at his desk with that same lecherous grin spread across his features._

“ _Y/n! What a lovely surprise – do come in.”_

_You wrinkle your nose in disgust, but step into the office anyway, morbid curiosity driving you. But you jolt the second you hear the door lock behind you, your eyes widening in fright as McFarlen steps out from behind his desk, smarmy smile still in place, his beady eyes looking up and down your figure – it made you want to take a bath in bleach._

“ _...you thought that you’d gotten away, didn’t you?”_

“ _I did, you fat pervert. I’m not here! I’m Underground, you’re not real-”_

“ _Of course I’m real, y/n, what a stupid thing to say. Now, why don’t you come over here like the slut you are, and-”_

“ _No!”_

_You shriek, holding your hands out in front of you; before yelping in shock as McFarlen goes rigid, his eyes wide._

“… _.please, don’t, please, forgive me y/n!”_

  


“… _.what?”_

  


_Tears started to fill his eyes as he falls to his knees, body shaking._

“ _Please don’t kill me!”_

_You falter, mouth hanging open in complete and utter shock._

“ _Wait, what?! I’m not going to kill you!”_

“ _But I was going to rape you, **you stupid fucking girl**.”_

_You flinch as his voice goes from begging to snarling, his face switching between the two expressions as if he was glitching._

“ _Just….just stay away from me!”_

_You hurriedly start to push at the door behind you, rattling the handle as McFarlen began to crawl towards you, lecherous smile back in place for now – that is, before you kicked him as hard as you could in the face, wincing when you felt his nose snap under your heel._

_He falls to the floor with a groan of pain, clutching at his bleeding face; again, you needed to think fast. That force that had shoved the beast back – would you be able to shatter the door with it?_

_Concentrating, you quickly find the hum of your soul as it quivered in your chest, and willed yourself to shatter the glass that was keeping you trapped….please…._

_You yelp as you felt him clutch at your ankle, his face a scrunched up mess as he glared up at you, blood dribbling onto your jeans as he spat out his words._

“ _You bitch! I’m going to fucking kill you!”_

_You yelled incoherently, kicking backwards into his face, over and over, his teeth exploding out of his mouth every time your heel made contact – but he still didn’t let go._

_Ignoring him for the moment, you went back to concentrating – you just had to get out, right? Then this would be over-_

  


“ _ **You’re useless, you’re nothing!”**_

  


_Just concentrate-_

  


_His clawed hands started to travel up the inside of your leg, trying to drag you down._

  


_Just keep going-_

  


“ _ **You don’t deserve to be alive!”**_

  


_And suddenly, you felt it again, that strange snap – only this time, it was more of an odd….crunch. Like stepping on glass that had already been broken, lying in pieces beneath your feet._

_You grinned down at McFarlen briefly, watching him falter slightly in surprise._

“ _I’m out of here, you fucking prick. And for the record? I don’t need to forgive you, hell, I don’t need to hate you either – because your existence doesn’t matter jack shit to me. Not any more.”_

_With that, you direct that feeling down your arms, into your hands as they pushed against the door; you felt grim satisfaction when you saw the glass begin to crack, knowing that you’d finally done it-_

_Before you blink once more, realising that you were once again in another place; you looked around yourself in shock as you realised that you were standing in Toriel’s bedroom – with Toriel herself lying in bed, smiling up at you wearily._

“ _Hello, my child.”_

_You start to approach her without hesitation, your brow knotting together with concern._

“ _Tori, what’s wrong? Why are you-”_

“ _I am so sorry, my dear y/n.”_

_Your muscles suddenly freeze in place, hand still outreached towards her._

“ _W-what?”_

_You try to move your body, but no matter what you did, nothing worked. You were frozen in place, like a living statue._

“ _Mum, what’s going on-”_

“ _My child, I’m so sorry. I do not….have much time left.”_

_You struggled harder, your mouth babbling in your sudden, desperate panic, tears flowing freely as you realised the situation you were in._

“ _No, Tori, no! No, you can’t go, please, please, mum, I need you-”_

“ _My child, we all come to an end eventually. Remember what I said to you? Death comes to us all.”_

“ _But you’re a monster! You can only die if you have children, or if you lose ho-”_

_You let out a gentle gasp as she smiled a little wider at you, her sombre eyes filling with tears._

“… _.I cannot go on, knowing the sins I have committed, y/n.”_

“ _No, no, what do you mean? Tori, you’re wonderful, please-”_

“ _I willingly sent those children to their deaths, y/n. I do not deserve to go on.”_

“ _No! You’re the best mother, remember? It’s not your fault, Tori-”_

“ _But it is. I could have barred the doors.”_

“ _That would mean trapping them – you’re too kind to do something cruel like that.”_

“ _And too stupid to keep them safe.”_

_You shook your head, tears running down your cheeks as you sobbed._

“ _No….please….please don’t….”_

_Without even knowing you were doing it, you sank into that mode of concentration once again, your soul pitching and swaying in distress, desperately reaching out to her-_

_-but you could sense nothing. Nothing to signify that Toriel was there._

_And you knew that there would be nothing, of course; she wasn’t really in the room with you, she wasn’t really dying, she wasn’t giving up, she wasn’t-_

  


“ _My child. Please, come here.”_

  


_You sobbed louder, your muscles still frozen in the position of reaching out for her._

“ _I….can’t! I can’t move!”_

“… _.concentrate, y/n. I know that you can do it.”_

_She smiled at you gently as you continued to struggle, eventually screaming out in desperate frustration._

“ _ **I….Tori-”**_

“ _Keep trying, my child. Think.”_

_You gulped down your tears, concentrating harder – if you could throw a beast into oblivion, if you could break glass with your fingertips…...then surely you could make yourself move. You search for that snap, that crackle of energy – and it finally arrives, flowing throughout your body, sinking into your frozen muscles; and you slowly start to feel them start to release._

“ _It’s...working! Tori, it’s working.”_

“… _.I always knew that you could, my child.”_

_Your eyes widen as you notice little pieces of her seem to be….disintegrating, even as she smiled up at you, tears running into her fur. You desperately will the power to flow faster, to work faster._

“ _No, mum, wait, it’s almost-”_

  


“… _.I’m sorry, y/n.”_

  


_You muscles finally unfreeze and you fall towards her – only to find dust under your finger tips. You hardly even notice the howls of pain that erupt out of you as your mind draws up blank, not being able to process the situation, even if you knew it was a dream. But you could still feel her dust under your hands as they clenched the sheets beneath-_

_The world around you shifts once again, even though you’re still sobbing, body shaking; but Toriel’s dust and bedroom are gone, replaced with…._

_You feel a chill run through you as you look around, instantly recognising the oppressive atmosphere of the Void. Wiping your face, you call out hesitantly for Gaster-_

  


_But nobody came._

  


_Gulping, you looked around, eyes desperately looking for anything other than pitch black darkness._

_And suddenly, your efforts are rewarded – for in the distance, there was a shape. You hurriedly willed your body forward through the inky black, nose wrinkling at the almost oily texture against your skin as you floated through it._

“ _Hello? Can you hear me?”_

_You struggled closer, desperate to talk to someone to find out whatever it was you had to do next-_

_Before your body comes to a screeching halt, you mouth dropping open, as you took in the sight in front of you._

_Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t human – as a matter of fact, it looked a little like what you had always imagined a dragon would be like; enormous maw, horns, huge wings that opened up a little as it turned towards you._

_The only difference being the fact that it was completely made of bone._

_It glared down at you, baring it’s teeth as it let out a low growl, tail wiping out and around it – it was stupidly huge. You supposed the upside would be that if this thing were to eat you, it would at least be a quick death – it could easily swallow you in one gulp._

_It was then that you remembered that Gaster had mentioned about other beings existing in the Void, and how words didn’t react well with them -_

_\- but a soul’s intent did._

_Gulping, you held eye-contact, and concentrated on the hum of your soul; before blinking in surprise as you didn’t only sense the ‘sound’ that was yourself – there was a very obvious other sound, one that you’d never heard before; it was….memorising, like the sound of a string instrument being played to perfection._

_Hesitantly, you sent across the message that you weren’t a threat in any way that you knew how – memories of your pacifism where monsters were concerned, hugging those who needed it, speaking and generally being there for your friends whenever they cried._

_The Void being shifted slightly, blinking down at you for the barest of moments, before lowering it’s head down; you shut your eyes as it approached, body freezing up with fear, before you felt it’s nose gently nudge your cheek – your eyes opened up again in shock, gasping a little as it nudged you again...it reminded you of a demanding dog or cat...begging for pets. Hesitantly, you reached up, gently patting the side of it’s nose – it let out a deep, humming purr in return, clearly pleased with the attention. You giggled despite yourself, before your eyes widened up as you heard a voice through the string instrument tones of this being’s soul._

  


“ _ **Mage.”**_

  


_You gaped at the being as it’s gaze burned into yours._

  


“ _ **I have seen you here many times. You lack control – but should you gain it, know this-”**_

  


_It nudged you once again, humming in a pleased manner._

  


“ _ **I will come when you call, mage. A soul such as yours deserves to be followed.”**_

  


_You blinked up at it in confusion as it stared down at you, tail curling, breathing softly into your face. And just as you were about to answer, or at least try to, you jolt slightly and automatically turn as you heard the familiar voice of Gaster._

“ _Y/n! What are you-”_

_He cuts himself off, eye-lights narrowing down in shock, mouth opening in a gape as he looks behind you at the Void being – before his eye-lights express complete and utter fascination, that familiar scientific intrigue ruling his features as he examined the scene before him. You, meanwhile, feel great confusion – wasn’t speaking to the Void being your trial?_

“ _Gaster…?”_

“ _Y/n, you need to wake up! Your test is complete – you’re worrying them all!”_

“… _.but, aren’t I...”_

_You realised with a jolt that you were unconscious, put into a controlled sleep. That meant that-_

“… _.this is real, isn’t it.”_

_The Void being rumbled out a deep noise that you could have sworn was a chuckle, nudging your back gently as your eyes widened, finally realising that the giant creature nudging your back like an affectionate cat was as real as could be._

  


“ _ **Go, mage. Awaken.”**_

  


_Still shocked, you hurriedly will your body upwards towards consciousness with ease – you were used to the motion, after doing it so many times._

  


_At last, your long trial…._

… _..your nightmare…._

… _.had ended._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, summery time.  
> The trail begins with y/n facing a terrible beast, that all but tears her apart - but she defeats it by using a strange but powerful force. She blinks, and appears in a different place; her old work place, in fact. There, she confronts McFarlen, and finally tells him what she thinks of him - that he doesn't matter in her life at all. She blinks yet again - now she's in Toriel's bedroom, with Toriel in her bed. Toriel, sadly, is on the verge of death, and y/n is frozen in place, unable to get to her. But using the strange force yet again, she manages to move once more - though that's in vain, as poor Tori turns to dust anyway. :( In yet another blink, she's in the Void, alone. But not for long; she meets a gigantic dragon made of bones, who speaks to her, saying that they would 'follow' her, should she gain control of her magic. Gaster then finally pops up, telling her to wake up - y/n realises that the being in the Void is not part of the test, and the dragon creature is, in fact, real. She then forces herself awake.  
> And there we are! Summery done.   
> Now, this chapter is dark for a reason - y/n's soul is, as you've probably gathered, not the happiest of places, amongst other things.
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3


	64. Potential

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we wake up....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You awake gasping, instantly struggling as hard as you could against your bonds, panic rising, breath hitching and breaking in your throat.

 

“S-someone get me out of this thing!”

 

Footsteps instantly approach you, Undyne coming into view, her gaze concerned, wary smile in place.

“Heh, hey nerd, we were worried there for a sec-”

“Undyne. Fucking get me _out_!”

She finally registered the complete and utter panic in your eyes, her gaze soon becoming serious as she hastily pushed your soul back into your being, untying you as quickly as she was able while you continued to struggle, panicking as you realised you weren’t getting enough air, you heart accelerating-

“Hey, you need to calm down-”

“I-is she o-ok? I t-turned off the s-scanner, y/n, i-it’s all done-”

 

You simply let out another noise of desperation as a reply; your arms and legs were still tied down, how were you supposed to stop yourself from being _eaten_ , from being _hurt_ , from _saving_ -

 

Your bonds are suddenly ripped from your body with a loud pop, and you’re up in the air and floating – before you finally land into a familiar pair of arms, held against a familiar body, a familiar scent.

“Shh, I got you bud, don’t worry.”

You heave out a sob, fingers digging into the soft fabric of Sans’ hoodie as he holds you close, murmuring out gentle, comforting words.

 

“You’re ok.”

“I-it hurt so much!”

“I’ve got you.”

“An-and, I was back there, again-”

“You’re safe.”

 

You simply give in, howling into his shoulder as your knees buckle; he gently guides you down to the floor, holding you close, your body flush to his as he runs his fingers through your hair, still murmuring soft assurances of your safety in your ear.

“I’m here, y/n – you’re not there any more.”

You sobbed, curling your body tight into his as you relished in the safety, your breathing slowly easing up.

“S-Sans...”

He hummed gently in the back of his throat, continuously rubbing his cheek against yours as you continued to cry – until eventually your tears faded to hiccuping breaths, your body sagging against his frame. He continued to hold you to his chest, though you felt him shift his body slightly to look up, his voice coming out chilled and clipped.

“What happened?”

“I-I don’t k-know – the t-test was w-working-”

“Her soul was in distress the entire time, I’m sure you could _see_ that.”

“Pfft, she’s tough, I’m sure that-”

 

“ ** _Shut up, Undyne._ ”**

 

Your muscles automatically tense at his sudden dark tone, and he instantly held you just a little bit closer, running his fingers through your hair soothingly – as much as you wanted to explain, at the moment you just needed to….rest.

 

Everything hurt, so….just for a while, you wanted to be safe.

 

“Why didn’t you bring her out of it?”

“I-I’m s-so s-sorry, I-I didn’t k-know that-”

“We had no idea that it was this bad, I promise you. Y/n….”

You shiver in reflex as you feel a cool hand press against your back.

“...y/n, I’m so sorry. If I had any idea….I promise you, the test isn’t supposed….to be like that. I figured that you were just surprised or something, when we saw your that you were….freakin’ out. I told Alphys not to pull you out….this one’s on me.”

Sans lets out an almost feral growl, tugging you closer to him as he shuffled backwards, away from Undyne’s reach – but you had calmed down enough by this point, speaking out as loud as you could against the surface of Sans’ shoulder.

“...it’s ok. I forgive you.”

“Y/n, bud, this is in _no way_ ok-”

“I know it’s not. But it’s not her fault. She didn’t know what was happening.”

You raise yourself slowly from the safety of his shoulder, his arms loosening a touch to allow your movement as you looked into his face, willing yourself to smile.

“...thank you so much. I’m….I’m ok.”

Sans’ face crumpled slightly as he looked at you expression, his eye-lights wavering in his sockets.

“...you’re not. Not completely.”

“...I am for now.”

He hesitated for a moment, before smiling softly, gently brushing your hair behind your ear.

“….you’re amazing, d’you know that?”

You face flushed as you computed the gentle sweetness of his words…

...and the fact that you’d basically done the job of washing his hoodie for him, you’d sobbed into his chest so much.

You make to scramble away, but he only chuckles at your sudden mortification, winking over your shoulder at Alphys and Undyne and holding you just a touch tighter.

“See you in the living room.”

“W-wait, S-Sans-”

“Don’t worry. I’m not angry, not any more – she’s ok. Just….let’s just look at the results, alright?”

Without another word, he teleports the two of you to Alphys’ living room, onto the squish of the couch – he quickly manoeuvrers your struggling form to sit in his lap, tugging you close to his body again with a soft sigh. You continue to struggle in his grasp, blush rising in your cheeks; but find yourself instantly stilling at the sound of his words.

“...it’s ok. Rest for a bit. I know that you need to.”

You let out a sigh of your own, relenting as you lay your head into the faux fur of his hood, tears gently falling from your eyes and dribbling down your cheeks – you weren’t even intending to cry again, they just seemed to….come out of their own accord.

Sans murmured out another comforting sound, stroking a few tears from your cheek – before you suddenly laughed.

“Heh…funny how we keep comforting each-other like this, huh?”

His motions against your cheek stilled for a moment, before continuing on, tracing across your skin softly.

“...I’ll always be here for you if you need me to be, y/n.”

You chuckled humourlessly, you mind strangely blank from the shock of everything. He lets out a soft, deep sigh, appearing to think a moment; before speaking to you again, his voice unbelievably soft and gentle.

“...hey. Do me a favour?”

You hummed in reply, showing that you were listening.

“...sense me for a second.”

You blinked, your body tensing up momentarily in reflex as you processed his request.

“That’s all I was doing….during the test, I mean. It’s how I….knew it wasn’t….real.”

But you do as he asks, anyway – soon his lower tones were swimming around you, and you found yourself gripping his clothes under your fingers; you hadn’t noticed how much you’d been craving his sound during your ‘sleep’.

Tiredly, you sent over the sensation of sun across your skin – he shivered slightly, just as he always seemed to, chuckling nervously under his breath.

“Heh….ok, this might be….a little weird.”

“What’s weird-”

Your words cut off instantly as an image floated up into your mind; it was almost as if you were vividly remembering something….

…..only you knew that it wasn’t _your_ memory.

You were looking down at your mitten clad hands, rolling a snowball, the icy cold seeping through to your fingertips – before you threw it, straight into the face of a much smaller, and obviously much younger Papyrus, who let out the most beautiful undignified squawk at the frigid impact.

You started to giggle in reflex at the image, only giggling all the more as the sound tiny Papyrus made seemed to play on repeat a few times.

“...he sounds like a seagull.”

“...what’s a seagull?”

You chuckled, sending over what a seagull looked like – as well as what it sounded like. Sans instantly chortled, his body shaking with his laughter.

“Oh stars, he really does!”

You both dissolved into giggles at that, before you paused again as he sent you another memory – he’d bought a nice-cream it seemed. But what you didn’t expect was for the taste to suddenly appear in your mouth – a delicious, creamy flavour that you couldn’t quite identify; a little like that sweet taste that most pastries or brioche have.

“...heh. It’s called ‘Snowdin Flurry’ - pretty original name, I know.”

“It’s really nice….man, I’ve got to break out those nice-creams with you at some point, thanks for reminding me….wait, do you think they’ll melt in my phone?”

Sans chuckled, shifting you a little in his lap as he leaned into the couch a touch more.

“Pfft, no – if you kept ‘em in there, they’d probably last forever.”

You looked up at him with utter joy at the mention of immortal ice-cream, only increasing his chuckles, before he let out a soft noise of satisfaction.

“Better?”

You smiled up at him, nodding as you did so.

“Thanks….I can, uh, see what you mean when you say that you can see everything.”

He slowly winked at you, your face instantly flushing in reaction – but before you could poke him for his teasing, you were interrupted by the tapping of approaching footsteps; Alphys and Undyne had finally made their way back.

You instantly squirmed once again in Sans’ grip for release; and to your surprise, he actually lets go. You looked back at him in mild shock, only for him to smirk at you, his grin curling up at the corners.

“Heh. Gotta look over results, right? ‘sides, you’ll probably want to stretch your legs.”

Now that he mentioned it, you noticed how stiff you were – you supposed that you must have been tensing up quite a bit while you were trapped in the dreamscape, so your muscles were more than a little sore. Still, you had one task to carry out; a certain promise that you’d made to Undyne.

She stood with a guilty expression on her face as you quickly approached, your gaze steely – before her expression turned to utter shock as you kicked her in the shin as hard as you dared three times, before fleeing to hide behind the couch.

The silence is palpable for a moment, everyone wide-eyed at your actions, before Undyne bursts into loud guffaws, clutching her sides as she grinned at you.

“HA! Was that supposed to _hurt?!”_

“I said that I’d kick you! I didn’t _say_ that it would hurt!”

She snorted, rolling her eye; but you could see the relief on her face as she looked at you cowering behind the couch – and you felt yourself blushing slightly as you saw the absolute pride in her expression.

“….well, I can’t say that I didn’t deserve it.”

She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as you finally deemed it safe enough to emerge from behind your couch barricade.

“...s-s-so, y-you’re ok n-now?”

Alphys was fidgeting in place, her expression horrifically anxious as she seemed unable to meet your gaze, though it was more than apparent that there were tears in her eyes; you grumbled in dissatisfaction, quickly making your way over and hugging her hard.

“Alphys, it’s ok – everything’s alright.”

She sniffled, hugging you back.

“I-I’m a t-terrible f-friend! I’m s-so sorry!”

“You’re not – not even a little bit. You didn’t know…..neither of you did. I’m ok, see? It’s alright.”

She looked up at you mournfully; you could only imagine what you looked like after all that crying, and judging from her expression it couldn’t of been the greatest of images.

Regardless, she gave you a watery smile; before the both of you jolt slightly as a near-by machine started to spit out paper. Undyne lets out a loud chortle at that, muttering something about the two of you being ‘scaredy-cats’, as Alphys lets go of you in favour of heading over to the machine to collect the results. Ignoring Undyne’s teasing (well, you did narrow your eyes at her, but that only seemed to make her laugh more), you head back over to the couch, Sans moving up to allow you to sit at the far end.

You flop with a tired sigh, Sans looking over at you worriedly as you do so.

“Hey….you sure you want to work tonight? I mean, it’s been….a tough day.”

You slapped your forehead with a gasp at his words, realisation hitting you like a freight train.

“Oh man! I completely forgot that I had a shift tonight!….but no, I’m going to go. I’ve already missed out on two nights, and I can’t let Grillby down-”

“Bud, he’s worked that place by himself for as long as I can remember.”

“Doesn’t matter! I was hired there, and just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I get to slack off!”

Sans snorted, rolling his eye-lights at your words as Alphys gathered together the papers and started to split them into two piles – obviously one for her and one for Sans. You could only guess that she’d be sharing with Undyne.

“Heh, y/n, I think he’d understand under these circumstances.”

“Yeah, of course he would, but….it’s been a while, and….I’d like to see everyone again, you know?”

Sans grinned at that as Alphys tapped her way over, Undyne marching close behind her, attempting to peer over her shoulder, her impatience clear on her face.

“O-ok. I’ve got e-everything here...”

She sits, Undyne forcing herself onto the couch next to her, which shoved Sans into your side, leaving both of you to huff out surprised breaths – Sans glared down at the amazonian fish woman, who merely shrugged, her expression sardonic.

Letting out an exhale through gritted teeth, Sans held out a hand for the results; and then the work began, leaving you to your thoughts as the room fell into relative silence, only broken by the sounds of pencils against paper and the occasional thoughtful sound.

You certainly didn’t want to think about your ‘experiences’ at the present moment, not after you’d just recovered yourself, so you instead focused on a glaring question that had appeared since you’d woken up.

How had Sans known that your soul was in distress?

It’s not like that he was in the room at the time; yes, he’d said before that he seemed to be ‘in tune’ with you as you’d spent so much time together thanks to his judging abilities, but….it just didn’t make _sense_. Surely the same would go for all of your friends – and you’d certainly seen a few of them in distress when Sans wasn’t around, and he hadn’t magically appeared then.

He’d also only come to your aid when your soul was back safe inside your body; you already knew the stigma around souls where monsters were concerned, and you appreciated that respect of privacy – but again, how had he known that it was safe to come into the room?

You were already well aware that this result could mean him telling you all of these things at last, but….your curiosity was driving you wild.

And then there was his recent behaviour, his sudden need to hold you close and keep you that way – ever since the argument you’d had with him, his need to touch you had seemingly grown exponentially. True, his physical affections had steadily been increasing since that time you’d been ill, but….but this was different.

It gave you hope. Hope that you’d never thought you would be allowed to have.

 

Did Sans….actually like you in the same way that you liked him?

 

You’re broken out of your thoughts as Undyne’s soft gasp echoes throughout the room; you look over to her in muted surprise, only to see her turning to look at you with something akin to an awed fear.

“….what?”

She continued to stare wide-eyed, her maw hanging open (which only high-lighted her shark-like teeth) – before she appeared to shake herself slightly, grinning so wide that you instinctively backed away as much as the couch would allow; you couldn’t exactly help it, considering the fact that the last time she’d grinned like that she’d stabbed you with a syringe.

You jolt again as she suddenly leaps up, picking you up aggressively and twirling around the room with you while you shrieked in alarm; before both you and her froze, though not by her own violation as you quickly discovered when you found yourself floating back over to the couch, Sans extending his hand as his magic flared in his socket. You landed back into the cushions with a slight huff, Sans’ smile stretching wider as he looked over at Undyne’s frozen form.

“….’Dyne, as much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, don’t throw y/n around like that, ‘kay?”

As seemingly kind and casual as his words were, the cold tone in which he spoke them suggested otherwise; and it seemed that Undyne also got that impression as she gave a short nod of understanding as Sans let go – still, her grin was stretched wide as she looked at you, bouncing slightly in place as she did so. That is, before she finally gave into her excitement with a roar, muscles rippling as she clenched her body.

“NGAHH! YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS, DON’T YOU, NERD?!”

You gulped, pausing for a moment before shaking your head in utter confusion. She continued to grin however, not put off by your confusion in the least as she strode over to you, grasping your shoulders – but did manage to restrain herself from twirling you around the room as Sans glared warningly in her general direction.

“Just….just freakin’ _look!_ ”

She swiped up one of the papers, holding it to your face; you read over it with a slight frown, before looking up at her with the same amount of confusion as before.

“….uh….honestly, this is all gibberish to me.”

Sans tittered out a laugh, Undyne instantly scowling over at him in reaction; before she let out a slightly deflated sigh, throwing the paper back onto the coffee table with a grumble.

“Urgh, FINE, be boring a listen to the lame-ass science side.”

You narrowed your eyes at her, which instantly made her snort with laughter – it seemed your glares had as much of an effect on her as they usually did.

“O-ok…..well, w-what Undyne is t-trying to say is t-that your re-results were very i-interesting.”

“Oh right…?”

Undyne let out a loud, excited guffaw, anxiously awaiting your reaction to the results...you rolled your eyes, a grin teasing around the edges of your lips; you couldn’t really help it – her passion for things was more than a little contagious.

“Yup. Long story short, it’s as we suspected – you’re a mage, bud.”

Resisting the urge to quote a certain line from Harry Potter, you allowed the news to sink in, your eyes opening wide.

“….you’re sure?”

“Y-yes. Not o-only are y-your attributes…..w-well, extraordinary, a-actually, considering t-the fact that they’re almost a-all even, and then the sheer _n-number_ -”

“NGAHH! SKIP THE BORING SCIENCE STUFF!”

“She _likes_ the boring science stuff, ‘Dyne.”

Undyne let out a grumble, crossing her arms angrily, but appearing to be staying quiet for the time being.

“Anyways. As Alph was saying, the attributes thing is still a little confusing – gonna need to think of some more tests to investigate it, if you’re ok with that. But your soul’s response to the test was more than conclusive – ‘course, we’ll now have the job of trying determine your magic out-put and-”

“URGH! Stop! You don’t need to do ANY of that boring shit, y/n-”

She leaned in close, giggling in a slightly sinister way as you instinctively shied back.

“-just let me train you! Fuhuhu.”

“….Undyne, I might be a mage…. _apparently_ ….but I still have no idea how to use magic, and-”

“NGAHHHHH! WHO CARES?! You used it during the exam, right? What’s the freakin’ problem?!”

“I was unconscious? And, well….dreaming?”

Undyne rolled her eye at that, letting out a loud, exasperated groan.

“Nerd, what did I tell you? It was more than _just_ a dream – it was like a trial for the _soul!_ If you can do it there, you can do it here!….you know, as long as you practise. And train.”

She gave you a pleading stare (only slightly marred by her manic grin), clasping her webbed hands in front of her in a begging motion.

“ _Pleeeease_ let me train you!”

You gulped, shifting yourself against the sofa cushions – honestly, her words freaked you out more than a little. The raw power you’d somehow possessed in your ‘dream’ was….

… _.terrifying_.

You’d actually blown that beast-like creature to literal smithereens, after all. And then there was that whole encounter with the Void being...

You had to wonder if that scan of ‘non-applicable infinity’ had more weight to it than any of you knew.

“I….I don’t know right now. I need to just kind of let everything sink in for a while….if that’s ok?”

She let out a slightly put-out sigh, but nodded regardless – after all, she’d seen the raw panic in your eyes when you’d woken up in that room; there was a time to push things, and this was definitely _not_ the time.

Sans coughed slightly next to you, drawing your attention; you blinked in slight surprise upon seeing that his features were drawn up in an odd serious expression – almost severe.

“….there’s more, bud.”

“Oh, ok?”

 

“Yeah, a few things came up, that….are _interesting_ , you could say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THE SLOW BURN PICKS UP. I mean, heck, had to give out some decent snuggle time after the last chapter :p But yes! Mage reader-chan confirmed! :D   
> Now it's just a question of what Sans found so interesting ;)  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	65. And The Abyss Stares Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you and Sans have a little chat....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D  
> .....  
> ALSO HOLY CRAP OVER 20,000 READS?! *faints* <3

“Ok….so what does ‘interesting’ mean?”

“W-well, _b-both_ tests came up w-with….well.”

“...oh. So the Toxicity exam…?”

Sans let out a long, heavy sigh, his slightly severe expression lessening just a touch – which you were honestly happy with, considering his piercing gaze had been making you feel a little uncomfortable.

“...yeah, not gonna lie bud, it wasn’t great.”

“….so does that mean that my HP can’t be….elevated?”

Undyne looked slightly surprised at your words, her brow quirking as she scowled down at you.

“Your HP’s low, twerp?”

“...oh yeah, kinda forgot that you wouldn’t know about that.”

You let out a shaky chuckle, rubbing the back of your neck.

“It’s a grand total of 2. Well, last time I checked it was, anyway.”

Undyne simply stared, shock more than apparent on her features, not seeming to know quite what to say in reply to your statement; coughing slightly, you turned back to Sans and Alphys for the moment, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

“So, can anything be done?”

“W-well, the way a t-toxicity exam works is b-by analysing your s-soul’s reaction to certain s-stimuli – so all we need is to address is w-what made your soul react, and then-”

 

_Yeah, ok, you weren’t doing that._

 

Of course, you knew at some point that….you’d have to go over things, but….this was not that time.

Honestly, you weren’t sure if there was _ever_ going to be a time.

“….so what about the other test?”

The room fell into silence and obvious tension at your words….Alphys lets out a gentle sigh, eyes looking at you meaningfully for a moment, before continuing.

“….o-ok. Well, as you k-know, you seemed to r-react with a non-physical r-response whilst undergoing t-the molecular attributes exam, which signifies the presence of m-magic – but what was interesting w-was, as I mentioned e-earlier....the sheer number of attributes present….w-we already ha-had some idea, of course, but….to see it in such _detail_...”

You chuckled softly as her eyes almost seemed to light up with enthusiasm, before she coughed, obviously a little flustered.

“B-but yes, as Sans s-said, we would have to perform m-more tests to examine s-some attributes you appear to be displaying – i-it’s incredible! W-we’ve never seen t-them before, there’s no record of them e-ever existing, and-”

Sans sniggered quietly, patting her shoulder to put a stop to her excited ramblings.

“But only if you’re ok with it, bud.”

“Yeah, I’m fine with it. Besides, don’t think I could refuse with Alphys pulling a face like that.”

You giggled, Alphys sputtering as she blushed.

“O-oh, I’m not fo-forcing you, am I? I-”

“No, no no no, not at all! You’re fine. Honestly, it’d be kind of interesting to me, too – I mean, attributes are just….personality traits, right?”

“N-not exactly, bu-but that’s the short version. I-it’s the driving force b-behind a soul – for in-instance, if you had a s-soul with the attribute of kindness l-leading the forefront, t-that would be y-your first thought when making a decision.”

….well, now you supposed it made a lot more sense why your emotions were constantly all over the place.

“Fuhuhu, just like me – I use green magic.”

“...you have a soul of _kindness_?”

Undyne frowned at the shock in your voice, promptly punching your arm with a huff; you instantly wince, feeling a new bruise rising to the surface.

“Hey! Well excuse me for being surprised, considering your love of punching me.”

She snorted at that, though she still looked vaguely offended. Thinking on it though, you had to admit that it made some sense – even though she was the Head of the Royal Guard, and she’d been ordered to kill you and take your soul, she’d actually stopped to listen to reason; plus, her driving force for doing such a thing was to free the monsters of the Underground. She’d really been nothing _but_ kind to you since realising that she might not need to kill you – and that was considering her past with humankind. Sure, she was aggressive and passionate; but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t kind.

“….you know, thinking about it, I can see it. But….isn’t healing magic green?”

“Sure is. Fuhuhu, but you can do _so_ much more with it!”

You winced slightly at her almost manic shark-like grin making a sudden reappearance, a little wary over what that might entail – but you had to admit that you were curious.

“….like what?”

“You can make totally bad-ass shields with it! And you can hold a soul in place if you practise hard.”

“...which I’m sure that you can do.”

She only laughed loudly in response to that, which more than answered your question.

“Ok, well, so what kind of tests will we need to-”

“T-that’s not a-all, though.”

Alphys looked down at the papers in her hands, which to your surprise, seemed to shake a little as she frowned.

“….Alphys? You ok?”

She hummed out a vague affirmative sound, still staring down hard at the papers.

“T-towards the e-end of the exam, s-something….really s-strange came up.”

She shifted a little, looking up at you hesitantly, about to continue on before Undyne butted in excitedly.

“Oh yeah! What was that?! It was almost like everything glitched out!”

 

“….but it wasn’t a glitch.”

 

Undyne frowned at Sans’ words, looking over with a narrowed eye. Clearly she was about to interrogate him, but he stood with an oddly casual stretch, looking over at you with that earlier severe intensity – it sent a shiver up your spine, and certainly not one of the good kind.

“Well bud, I’d say that we’re about done here, right?”

Undyne let out a low growl at that, quickly approaching him and jabbing him in the chest as she glared at his rather unbothered expression.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, skeleton! You can’t just hide this kind of thing from us-”

“Y/n’s not comfortable talking about it – right, bud?”

He looks over at you briefly, and you immediately find yourself bristling; he wanted you to _lie_. Something that you only did with good reason; what was the big deal with letting them know about your little trips into the Void? But at Sans’ continued stare in your direction, you sighed, relenting – you just hoped that this was for a good reason.

“….yup. Still, maybe later.”

Undyne immediately narrowed her eye at you now, clearly suspecting that something was afoot, while Alphys still continued to fidget awkwardly on the couch; you could feel your guilt eating away at you, but you managed to restrain yourself from glaring at Sans as he sauntered over to you.

“Welp, guess we’ll see you two later – Alph, we’ll have to get together at some point to figure out some more tests, ‘kay?”

She nodded, twiddling her thumbs; you’d have to apologise to her later. Undyne, however, was still not satisfied as she strode towards you, leaning down until her face was almost level with yours.

“Listen punk. I’m serious about that training thing – and you don’t have to worry about that HP thing. I’d be careful….hell, Papyrus’ll probably help out too. So give it a proper think over, ok?”

You hesitated for a few seconds, before nodding – honestly, you couldn’t think about something as serious as that on top of whatever Sans was up to at the present moment. But it seemed your short nod had sated her for the time being.

And it seemed that that was enough for Sans too, as he quickly gripped your waist and teleported the two of you over to your familiar living room – which would have normally comforted you, but in this instance you were too focused on Sans’ expression as he stared you down.

“….you went into the Void while you were in that test, didn’t you?”

 

_Welp, here we go._

 

“Yeah. I seem to slip into it whenever I fall unconscious – I can’t control it really. I mean, I seem to be able to figure out leaving when I want, but not the….getting there.”

Sans blinked, his eye-lights widening; he clearly hadn’t expected you to be so open about the subject.

“To be honest, I’m surprised that you haven’t really asked about it until now.”

“...I was focused on other things.”

He blushed for some inexplicable reason, and you reflexively frowned, not understanding his sudden bashfulness. Shaking your head with a sigh, you ignore his oddities for the moment, considering you had more important things to worry about.

“So….what was so bad about that particular result being on the test? And uh….I’d appreciate knowing why I’m lying for you, too.”

He clearly balked a little at your words as you eye-balled him, gulping slightly as he gestured to the couch; you take a seat, still looking at him expectantly as he sits next to you.

“...I’m sorry I had to make you lie. It’s just….a bit of a sensitive subject, I guess. The Void itself is….well, as I’m sure you already know, a pretty, heh, _dark_ place. But the last time anyone here in the Underground tried to look into it, well….”

He hand balled into a fist while he averted his eye-lights for a moment.

“….let’s just say it didn’t end well. But only a few of us know about how bad that place is, or, well, that it even exists – Alphys is one of them.”

You frowned to yourself, leaning back into the plush cushions as you mindlessly examined the carpet. It was obvious that he was referring to his father’s ‘death’, and he of course wouldn’t know that you’d be aware of that – but at least it now made perfect sense why Alphys’ hands had started to shake when she’d attempted to breach the subject. Still, you had to wonder how Gaster had fallen into the Void in the first place – he and Sans had obviously mastered travelling through it without any problems, so what had gone so wrong?

Perhaps knowing would be part of the key to getting him out of there.

Shaking yourself out of your thoughts, you look back over at Sans, only to see his eye-lights concentrated on you inquisitively. Confused, you frown in reflex.

“….what?”

“Heh, sorry, you just seemed to be pretty deep in thought there.”

Silently cursing Gaster for his secretive ways, you choose your words carefully.

“I….sorry, was just worrying over you a little, I guess.”

“Pfft, why?”

“….you just looked sad for a moment.”

Sans’ brow puckered just a touch, a gentle sigh escaping him.

“...I’m ok, don’t worry. Still, you wanted to know about this result, right?”

You nod, turning your body to face him, curling up a little on the couch in order to get comfy. He chuckles slightly, mirroring your body position, before his expression turned a little more serious.

“….ok. Well, as you know, that ‘glitching’ indicated the presence of Void magic-”

 

_This was what Gaster has been looking for._

 

“-which is, basically…..well, I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed my ‘lil disappearing act.”

“….wait, are you saying what I _think_ you’re saying?”

He holds up a hand, chuckling at the sudden excitement in your eyes.

“Heh, now, hold up a second, bud. M’not saying anything yet, just….well, I didn’t get this particular magic through natural means.”

“….yeah, Papyrus did say something about you and your….father coming up with the method together.”

He nods shortly, his eye-lights narrowing down just a touch at the mention of his father.

“Yup. Involved a pretty risky experiment, honestly – but we were both idiots who made those kinds of risks.”

He frowned, his expression becoming dark; until you reached out and squeezed his hand, bringing his attention back to you. His mouth curled up warmly at the corners, his hand squeezing your own back before withdrawing.

“Anyway….the short version of it is that we’d figured out how to extract a part of the Void into this material plane – and happened to notice how similar it was to magic in general. Hence ‘Void magic’.”

“So when you say that….”

“….yup. It’s a literal part of the Void. Anyway, like I said, we were complete idiots – wanted to see what would happen if the Void merged with magic. ‘Course, did a controlled experiment first – extracted our own magic, added it in, recorded what happened. Which was too interesting to ignore….I mean, the merge was perfect, and with the theorised ATK and DF improvements-”

He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“….we got greedy, as well as stupidly curious. Dad was the first to try it out – heh, overly excited as usual...”

His expression turned mournful for a split second, before he shook himself.

“...and as you already know, the results were pretty interesting.”

“...what, so you both could do the same teleporting thing?”

“Teleporting, and, heh, a few other things – but yeah. Still, we got in a _lot_ of shit for it at the time….well, until Dad persuaded Asgore that it might come in potentially useful, where the barrier was concerned.”

“...what do you mean?”

“Dad thought that it might have been a way to break it. Well, the Void studies in general, I mean. But it was-”

He cuts himself off, squeezing his sockets shut and letting out shuddering breath – you instantly grab a hold of one of his clenched fists, back-pedalling as much as you could, reflexively sending over positive images as his humming weaved turbulently.

“Hey, hey, don’t worry about it – you don’t have to talk about it.”

He gradually relaxed, even chuckling a little at the fact you’d started to send over Papyrus’ squawking episode on repeat.

“Heh, hey, you can’t send me back my own memory – that’s cheating.”

“I’m an ignorant human, I don’t know the rules, so I can break them as much as I please.”

He snorted, rolling his eye-lights, even though his trade-mark grin was pulling at his features.

“Technically you’re an ignorant mage, but I gueeesss you can play that card.”

“I’m forgiven?”

“Heh, how could I not forgive someone who can remind me of such a perfect moment in my life?”

He sighs slightly, eye-lights looking upon you with such a warm fondness you find your cheeks start to heat up.

“Uh, right, so, I have this Void magic in my…..soul? Naturally? Is that what you’re saying?”

He coughed slightly, nodding, before continuing on.

“Basically – I mean, it’s just a load of numbers on a page if you just look at the results from today, but given the fact you seem to be able to travel there in your unconscious state? Though, it’s weird….it’s not your physical body that travels there, but….hmm.”

“Well, it can’t be my soul that travels there – I mean, that would have been fairly noticeable in the test.”

Sans reflexively shivers next to you, his expression slightly panicked.

“Yeah, _no_ , it’s not that – I would have guessed that it has some kind of link with your magic, which just happens to drag your consciousness across. Though, gotta say, that’s not exactly comforting...”

“...still, it doesn’t explain why. I mean, you guys had to implant yourselves with the stuff, so how can it just occur….naturally?”

Sans merely shrugs, a quirk in his brow-bone as he looked over at you.

“No idea, bud. Kinda why I wanted to look at your ‘mystery’ attributes in a little more detail – might provide some kind of answer as to why.”

“….still, does this….does this mean I might be able to do what you do?”

Sans chuckled, more than amused by the sudden excitement appearing in your eyes once again – but you couldn’t help it! The idea of actually being able to teleport was frankly amazing to you; though you did have a feeling Papyrus would be somewhat mortified, considering he considered the ability to be lazy.

“Heh, maybe, I dunno. Still, there are some things that come with Void magic that are a little….dangerous.”

“...well yeah, I would guess that. I mean, with teleporting you rip a literal hole in the fabric of reality-”

“Not so much with teleporting. Sure, it’s not exactly safe, but…..it’s kind of….natural? I mean, it’s not like I have to focus all that much when I do it. Just takes up a lot of energy – that’s the danger with it.”

“….ok. So what’s the really dangerous stuff, then?”

Sans lets out a heavy breath, his expression slightly wary.

“...well, in the Void there are….things that live there, I guess. And one of the perks of having Void magic is being able to call them... _here_.”

Your eyes widen in surprise – so this is what the Void being was talking about, when it mentioned you mastering your abilities….unless you were mistaken, of course. Which was highly possible, considering you knew all but nothing about magic.

“...what, so you can just….summon these things here? Whenever you want?”

Sans chuckled a little, his expression still vaguely nervous.

“Yup. They’re, uh, well, powerful – we thought it’d be pretty useful to have, if we….if we needed it.”

“...you mean against….humans, right? Defensively?”

“Yeah, of course. We never agreed with the whole soul gathering thing, Asgore knew that – couldn’t do much about it, considering dad was the Head Scientist.”

“But he’s the King.”

“Sure, but dad was a _genius_ , and if someone could figure out how to smash that barrier, it was him….”

He sighed, his expression troubled, before you poked him hard in the cheek; he frowned slightly, rubbing at the area with a wounded expression.

“Ok, so…..can I see one?”

His frown turned confused, his eye-lights dilated as he focused on you.

“One...what?”

“Your summon things. You know, the Void things.”

He snorted at your wording, shaking his head.

“Heh, I knew you were gonna ask that. No way.”

“What! Why not?”

“They’re dangerous, like I said.”

“What, so they would eat me, or something?”

His expression turned serious, his eye-lights narrowing down.

“….no. They’d incinerate you.”

You balk, not expecting such a horrific answer.

“...what?”

“Like I said, they’re powerful y/n. I learnt to control them to some extent, sure – but they’re still sentient. If one of them decided to take a dislike to you….”

You frowned, humming a little in the back of your throat – of course, Sans couldn’t know that you’d met one of the Void beings yourself, and you knew how to vaguely project that you weren’t a threat. It made sense that he would be wary.

“….is there any kind of warning?”

“What do you mean?”

“Before they attack. So that I’d be able to get out of the way in time.”

Sans scoffed a little, his expression slightly droll.

“Y/n. C’mon.”

“I’m serious! I just….really want to see one.”

He chuckled softly, before thinking on it seriously, his brow puckering.

“...well. I guess I can send it back into the Void pretty fast, but….”

You turn to him beggingly, hands clasped in front of you – he lets out a puff of laughter in response, rolling his eye-lights.

“Ok, ok, but….urgh, wait a minute.”

He disappears for a moment, before reappearing a lot closer than he had been previously, making you jump.

“Oh man, sorry – sometimes the landing isn’t exactly perfect, heh.”

Still, despite his words, he doesn’t move away; he instead takes your hand, opening it up, and placing something ice cold in the centre of your palm. You flinch reflexively, but he holds your hand steady, keeping whatever it was lying on your hand in place.

“Sans, what the actual-”

“Heh, relax. Just look.”

He lets go of your hand, leaving you to gaze into your palm. Lying there was a small, unassuming green pebble; which was still stupidly cold.

“...a pebble? Why does it…..it’s like….ice?”

“It’s more than just a pebble – it’s a portable shield, basically.”

You look down at it with renewed interest, your eyes wide, Sans chuckling softly at your shock.

“Wait, seriously?!”

“Yup. All you’ve gotta do is send down a spike of magic to activate it – and hey presto, you’ve got yourself a shield. Still, it’s just a prototype, so it’s limited in terms of actual use….only lasts for a few minutes, only has so many uses, etcetera.”

“…but I don’t know how to use magic.”

“Not at the moment, sure – but I do. If things start to go south, I’ll activate it, and you should be safe. Simple. Now...”

He grins, before carefully, almost lingeringly, reaching around your waist and grasping you gently.

 

“We’ll need to get to somewhere with a little more space. These things can be pretty big.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe, Merry Christmas you guys! :'3 Ready for some Gaster Blasters? ;)  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	66. Alpha and Omega

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally meet Gaster Blasters....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

Soon you found yourself standing in the middle of the clearing where you’d found Sans during his previous panic attack….it seemed so long ago already, despite it being only a few days. Shuddering with the cold, you glared at him openly, given the fact that he’d neglected to allow you to grab your coat before you left.

Casting apologetic eye-lights at you, he quickly teleports your coat over, only chuckling a little as you squirmed your way into it with an angry grumble – after all, you were still wearing your sneakers. While _he_ might be able to put up with soggy socks, it was honestly one of the few banes of your existence.

Still, it would be worth it, considering that you’d soon be able to see one of his ‘summons’.

You had to wonder if they’d be the same as that gigantic dragon creature, or something else – after all, the Void was a pretty vast space (or at least, you assumed that it was), so it wouldn’t be surprising if it hosted a multitude of creatures within it’s depths.

Sans shuffled awkwardly, his eye-lights wary as he clearly gathered himself up mentally.

“….heh. Still got that shield?”

You hold up the rock in between your finger-tips with a quick smile.

“Yup. And it’s still stupidly freezing. There a reason for that, by the way?”

“...the temperature? Dunno. Probably something to do with it being a vessel for ambient magic – like I said, it’s a prototype, so it’s not perfect.”

“How do you even know that it _does_ work?”

He scoffs at that, rolling his eye-lights.

“I made it. ‘course it works.”

You narrow your eyes at him, stooping down quickly to grasp a handful of snow, before lobbing the half formed snow-ball in his direction. He easily side-stepped it, brow bones raised.

“...y/n, believe me when I say that you don’t want to start a snow-ball fight with me.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I was saving you. You were in serious danger of becoming big-headed.”

You swiftly receive a snow-ball to the face for that comment, leaving you spluttering as you wiped your eyes; when they were clear, you glared at him, which he only shrugged in response to, his cat-like smirk in place.

“...you’re stalling! If you think a snow-ball fight will distract me from seeing a bad-ass summon, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Hey, you started it.”

“...ok, yeah, that’s true. Still!”

He chuckled a little, before letting out a long sigh.

“….right. Ok. Stand a little farther away, ‘kay? Like I said, these things are big.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense for me to stand with you?”

He faltered a moment, his sockets widening, before he lets out a slightly harried laugh.

“...yeah. Yeah, you’re right. M’sorry, I just….not used to someone standing next to me when I do this, heh.”

You quirk your head a little at that comment, but upon taking in his slightly alarmed expression, you push down any rising questions, choosing to quickly approach him. You grasp at his sleeve to bring his attentions away from his thoughts with as comforting a smile as you could muster; he blinks a little, his eye-light dilating just a touch as he focused on you – before he grinned back.

“You ready?”

He pauses for a moment, before nodding, letting out another long exhale.

“Yup. Ok, it’ll be directly in front of us, so….just try to….be as still as you can, ok?”

You nod, forcing yourself not to bounce in excitement in order to remain as still as possible; which he notices, if the slight snort of laughter from him told you anything. He soon sobers up however – and you watch with almost child-like amazement as his socket flares brighter than you’d ever seen it flare; well no, perhaps it was just as much as when you’d witnessed him having a night-terror, come to think of it.

He slowly raises a hand into the air, and you shiver involuntarily; the atmosphere around you almost seemed to buzz with raw energy, the ground shaking underfoot – before you let out a slight gasp as the air directly in front of you seemed to quiver, almost like the illusion extreme heat can sometimes give.

Only it got worse, most noticeable; you had to admit, staring at it was starting to give you a slight headache.

But at the same time, you couldn’t look away – for the air was changing, bruising; before it finally seemed to split with a dull booming sound, revealing a hauntingly familiar darkness underneath it.

The Void.

But it wasn’t just the Void, of course; in the blink of an eye, the rift in the air was gone, leaving not one ‘summon’, but _two_.

Even though time had seemed to almost hang in suspense around you as you watched the whole summon, the actual process had taken all of a few seconds. It was at that moment that it truly struck you how powerful a monster Sans actually was – he’d opened up a literal rift in the fabric of space time and summoned two creatures from another dimension; all without breaking a sweat.

And the summons themselves? They were…..different to what you been expecting.

They did in fact _resemble_ the dragon creature you’d met in the Void during your test; giant horn like structures atop their heads, gaping, sharp-toothed maws, burning lights in the sockets of their eyes. Though perhaps they resembled dog skulls more than anything else, now that you noticed the differences.

The only difference being that that was _it_. They were just….floating disembodied heads.

Sans visibly tensed next to you as he started to lower his hand, magic still sputtering in his socket – but whether this had something to do with his ‘summons’ or his stress level, you couldn’t be quite sure.

But neither of you expected the creatures to suddenly zoom at break-neck speed towards you, barrelling into you and knocking you down into the snow.

For a moment, you simply lay there, wondering for a second why you weren’t dead yet; before it occurs to you that both creatures are rubbing into your sides with their noses eagerly, letting out expectant, dog-like whines. You glance over to Sans, who was obviously frozen to the spot, looking at the odd scene with mute shock. Hesitantly, you pet one of the attention-seeking skulls, giggling a little when it lets out a pleased, rumbling purr, the other grumbling and shoving you with it’s nose just a touch harder in jealousy.

“...I thought that you said these things were dangerous?”

Sans finally seems to unfreeze a little, absolute shock still ruling his features as he approached your affectionate pile.

“...they are. Usually. I don’t...”

He lets out a slightly hysterical chuckle, scratching the back of his skull.

“...I’ve never seen ‘em act like this. Kinda amazing, I’ve gotta be honest.”

You try to sit up, but find yourself being pushed down once again in the wave of affections the Void creatures were raining down upon you; you look over to Sans with begging eyes, even if you’re still giggling as one of the creatures has started to tenderly nose at your cheek.

“A little help?”

Sans shakes himself out of his utter surprise a touch more, quickly snapping his fingers – the skulls let out long, pitiful whines at that, but obey his command, backing off and allowing you to finally stand up again. You dust some of the residual snow off yourself, wrinkling your nose slightly at that fact that now your entire person was more or less soaked, instead of just your sneakers and socks. Letting out a slightly mournful sigh, you look over at Sans, who was currently inspecting you with inquisitive eye-lights, his expression completely mystified.

“….hey, don’t look at me like that! I honestly have no idea why your skull puppies like me so much.”

Sans lets out a bark of laughter at that, the Void creatures looking at him curiously as he did so.

“Oh….oh man….I’ve gotta say, that’s a way better name than what I have for ‘em.”

“Oh?”

He blushes slightly at that, his laughter dissolving to awkward chuckles.

“….blasters.”

“….blasters?”

He nodded, before letting out a long suffering sigh as you burst into the obviously expected giggles.

“Seriously? I mean, I know you said that they can incinerate things, but isn’t that...”

“Heh, what can I say? Dad apparently liked to follow in classic monster tradition, when it came to naming things.”

“Hey, Papyrus and Sans are perfectly original names!”

He shook his head, letting out a chuckle.

“Think again – skeleton monsters apparently had a firm tradition in terms of names. Me n’ Paps fit the brief more than well enough.”

You make a noise of intrigue, before something occurs to you, sending you into much louder laughter than before; Sans quirks a brow-bone at you, a slightly confused smile playing across his face.

“Heh...pfftt….just....just that…..your dad named them, right?”

He nods, still confused.

“….Gaster…..blasters…? Get it?”

He merely rolls his eye-lights at that, despite letting out a slight puff of laughter as you continued to giggle.

“...yeah, not gonna lie, I think that had some part to play in the whole naming process. ‘sides, he was technically the one who figured out summoning them here – heh, I’m still the one who teleported first though, so I did have bragging rights over that….”

You sobered up as you realised that his expression was becoming progressively sadder, your hand automatically reaching out and giving one of the ‘blasters’ a hearty pat to distract him somewhat, making it release a contented purr at the attention – the other grumbled, nudging you on your hip with it’s nose; still, it had the desired effect, as Sans seemed to perk up at the noise, watching his oh so terrifying ‘weapons’ jealously vying for your attentions with a bemused smile.

Suddenly you jolt as an image is almost forcefully shoved into your head – and it wasn’t hard to figure out who it had come from, considering it was simply the image of you petting a currently unattended nose. Sans immediately noticed your jumping, his eye-lights narrowing down a little in his concern as he attempted to wade through the blasters to get to you.

“Hey, no, it’s ok-”

You reach down and pat the intrusive blaster to ensure you wouldn’t be receiving any more surprises.

“-I think….I think it just _spoke_ to me?”

Sans stopped dead in his tracks at that, sockets opening wide.

“You know, though the….”

You frowned, not knowing how to phrase the sending over images thing.

“...you can _resonate_ with them?”

You blink in surprise at that, looking over at him curiously, still petting the blasters avidly – you had to admit, they were quite pleasant to pet; smooth to the touch like marble and oddly lukewarm, a little like heated flooring.

“Is that what’s it’s called?”

Sans nods, his expression still astounded.

“….y/n, this is just….I mean, it’s one thing for you to being able to….”

“….resonate with you?”

He flushes oddly, nodding with a gulp.

“Y-yeah. But with a blaster, it’s not like the way it is with a….with an ordinary monster. They’re pretty different, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“Eh, not so much – I mean, you never know, they could be your long-lost cousins, considering they’re made of bone.”

He lets out a puff of laughter, pulling a mock-offended expression.

“Heh, only difference being is that they’re _actually_ made of bone. I’m not – I’m a skeleton fraud.”

He hangs his head sadly, expecting you to laugh, but you’re currently too surprised over the fact that the skulls that you’re currently petting are legitimately _living skulls_.

“...seriously?!”

“I’m sorry to disappoint.”

“No, not you! The blasters – they’re actually skulls?! Living, magical, _skulls_?”

“Yup – at least, from all the tests we’ve done, we’re pretty sure that they are, or something pretty close to it, anyway. Physical collagen and calcium phosphate, all wrapped around pure Void magic.”

“….I wonder why bone, of all things…..”

“I’ve got my theories. See, the Void itself is a pretty….corrosive atmosphere, so perhaps it has something to do with that.”

“But that would be under the assumption that giant, living dragon heads – and we’re talking non-monster dragons, keeping in mind – somehow fell into the Void, dissolved just a touch, then adapted? Seems a little unlikely. It’d make more sense to pick something indestructible – I mean, if you think about it, bone can be pretty weak as a material.”

He chuckles, reaching out to pat one of the blasters himself with a slightly fond expression.

“Heh, who knows? Maybe the Void just has good taste.”

“Or it’s a world of puppy eldritch horrors.”

He lets out a slightly surprised snort of laughter, looking at you with sockets crinkled with mirth. You grin back, before letting out a slightly thoughtful hum as you looked back down at the blasters, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying watching the interactions between the two of you.

“What’s up, y/n?”

“….oh, nothing really – I was just, uh...”

You feel yourself start to blush, shuffling your sodden feet in the snow with an awkward laugh.

“….I was just….kind of….wondering if you had names for them yet?”

“Pfft, ‘course I do. Was one of the first things I did, when I managed to master summoning them – gave all of the blasters names.”

You let out a slightly relieved sigh considering the fact that he hadn’t outright laughed at you, before your expression perks up with interest.

“...wait, _all_ of the blasters? You mean there’s more than two?”

“Yup. I can summon up to 24 – well, I mean, that’s the most I’ve been able to do in one shot, anyway. I’m pretty sure that there are loads of these things in the Void, considering dad had his own personal set, heh.”

“Wait, so your blasters are completely unique to _you?_ Do they all look completely different to each-other, then?”

“Subtly. See, this one has a slight crack on the right horn – that’s Alpha. And this one’s left socket is pretty chipped in the corner – that’s Omega.”

“….really, the Greek Alphabet?”

He chuckles, shrugging unapologetically.

“Hey, since I can only summon 24 at the moment, it’s pretty perfect, don’t you think?”

“But what if you exceed that number?”

“In the unlikely event, I plan to move onto stars, of course.”

“I suppose you won’t run out of those anytime soon.”

He lets out an affirmative hum, gently tracing over the crack on Alpha’s horn – even though the blaster was more or less ignoring him, still content with receiving pets from you.

“...I wonder why they like me so much.”

He lets out another hum at your words, albeit a thoughtful one.

“Might be something to do with the natural Void magic your soul seems to possess. I mean, they’ve never tried to attack me or dad, even if they were a bit growly when we first called ‘em through – nah, we only learnt how dangerous they were when we tried to introduce one of the lab assistants.”

He shivers slightly at the memory, his face a grimace.

“Oh man, were they ok?”

“Terrified, but yeah, they were fine. Needed to rebuild that part of the lab, though – think it still has scorch marks on the ceiling, unless Alph decided to redecorate.”

“...I know it sounds pretty stupid, but….do you think I’ll be able to see what they can do? It’s just a little hard to see them as terrifying when they’re….y’know.”

You gesture down at the blasters, who were still eagerly nosing at your sides for more affection. Sans lets out a soft chuckle, even if his expression was suddenly a little anxious; but regardless, he clicked his fingers again, the blaster responding instantly – they seem to lose all of their affectionate behaviours in a heartbeat, flying off slightly to the side, coming to a complete and utter standstill.

“….how did they know what you wanted?”

“Oh. Uh. Heh, it’s not the clicking, if that’s what you’re wondering – just a bad habit of mine, as well as raising my hand when I use certain magic….nah, it’s an internal conversation through resonation.”

“….that makes a lot more sense. So the clicking and hand raising is just for your own concentration?”

Sans chuckles awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. You patted his arm, sending him a comforting smile.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that – I mean, I do this….breathing thing when I really need to concentrate on resonating. I guess I’ll get better at it in time, but it’ll probably still be a habit for a while….heh.”

He laughs softly for a moment – before his next movement makes you freeze on the spot.

He reaches out and starts to rub comforting circles in the centre of your back.

He doesn’t seem to notice your sudden shock at his intimate touch however, as he points towards the blasters.

“Heh, don’t worry bud, you’ll get it soon enough. Still, look over there – that’s where I’ll be telling them to aim.”

Not waiting for you answer (not that you could have come out with much other than a squeak, anyway), you spot his magic sputter into life again, as he raised a hand – and soon, you actually forgot the hand rubbing warming circles into your back, or at least, put it to the back of your mind; for the blasters had suddenly opened up their maws, and deep within their non-existent throats a light was building, an odd humming sound filling the suddenly static charged air. Then all in the blink of an eye, Sans had jolted his arm back down, the blasters releasing the built up energy towards the tree-line, leaving you slack-jawed as the raw power effortlessly burnt through said tree-line.

“...holy….holy _shit_.”

He chuckles next to you, clicking his fingers once more – leaving him just about holding you upright as the blasters eagerly fly back to you, nosing for pets with maws that smell faintly of ozone.

“Pretty cool, right?”

“...I don’t think that covers it, to be honest. I mean….. _crap_ , I can see why the lab assistant was scared out of their wits. Would not like to be on the receiving end of that. Phew.”

“Understand why I gave you the shield now?”

You nod dumbly, before looking down at the once again innocent blasters, who were looking up at you as if searching for something more than pets – validation, perhaps?

Testing your theory, you control your breathing, quickly noticing the blaster’s magic signatures; which were quite similar to the gigantic skeleton dragon’s, in the sense that they sounded like string instruments – though instead of cellos, they sounded more along the lines of something like a violin or viola, with Omega at a touch higher a pitch.

Hesitantly, you send over an image of congratulations – or as close to it as you could, considering the image was more along the lines of telling a dog what a ‘good boy’ he was.

The blasters, however, don’t seem to mind that in the least, letting out pleased yipping sounds, butting their noses against your hips hard, making you wince through your smiles; Sans starts openly laughing next to you, and for a moment you think it’s at the sudden happiness of his blasters.

“Heh, oh man, you do know that sent that to me too, right?”

You let out a slightly embarrassed giggle, looking over at him apologetically.

“Sorry – told you, not too good at it yet. Still, I sent it to more than one, even if I didn’t intend to memo you in.”

“Gotta admit, probably the first time I’ve been told I’m a-”

“Nope! Do not continue that sentence, please.”

He snorts out a loud chortle, his frame shaking while you grumbled under your breath. Suddenly, Sans’ body seemed to sag a little, and he let out a long exhale – you look over to him, feeling more than slightly concerned when you noticed his suddenly tired expression.

“Hey, are you ok?”

“Yeah….just….heh, it’s been a while. Takes it’s toll after a bit – sorry guys, gonna have to send you back.”

Despite not understanding English, the blasters let out whines at his words; you’re pretty sure that they knew what their master becoming exhausted meant. Still, they heed his words (after one final pat from you, that is), heading back into the portal to the Void without any trouble. You feel slightly sad when they go, however, missing the hard noses begging for attention; still, you were more worried for Sans’ health at this moment.

“...welp, better….’port us back...”

“I don’t think you have enough for that, Sans.”

He lets out a dismissive noise, but starts to walk through the trees regardless, leaving you to follow.

 

“Heh, don’t worry, I’ll be back up and running in a few. We’ll get you back for your shift in time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe, Happy New Year everyone! <3 Hope that it's been a lovely time for you all :3   
> And more Grrrriiillllbae next week, yay! ^-^  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	67. Kalon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally have our next shift at Grillby's....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

You sigh softly, yanking on your boots and worrying slightly over the fact that your legs would still be mostly uncovered, even with your coat on – but it couldn’t be helped, and you had to get to work somehow.

 

Considering that Sans was currently out of commission, snoring softly on the couch.

 

You bite your lip, still feeling guilty – true, you hadn’t known how draining summoning and using blasters could be over an extended period of time, but you couldn’t help but blame yourself for his exhaustion. Still, at least he’d have the opportunity to rest for the moment; you’d shot a text over to Papyrus to not disturb him (though considering Papyrus’ usual loud entrances, you honestly weren’t quite sure why you bothered), and you’d made the decision to take yourself over to Grillby’s for your shift – it wasn’t that far a walk, and since you had you coat and boots, it would only be part of your legs that would be left exposed to the elements.

 

Yeah, it wouldn’t be that bad.

 

Nodding determinedly to yourself, you stand, snuggling into your coat a little more, giving Sans’ sleeping figure one last glance – before you noticed what was wrong with the picture. Grumbling to yourself for your negligence, you quickly run up the stairs and retrieve a pillow and blanket; as silently and as carefully as you could, you tuck the pillow snugly under Sans’ head, hoping that it would be enough to prevent any neck pain (not that you knew if skeleton monsters could get such a thing, but you decided that it would be better to err on the side of caution). He grumbles softly in his sleep, brow creasing worriedly for a moment; you freeze, mentally crossing your fingers – then heave a sigh of relief as he snuggles his cheek into the plush surface with a contented groan. Smiling softly in satisfaction, you lay the blanket over his form, gently tucking him in, but not too much – you knew that he had a habit of kicking the covers off his feet, so you assumed that he didn’t like to feel too constricted when he was asleep.

Humming happily to yourself, now that you knew that Sans was a little more comfortable, you head out the front door and into the snow. You hiss out a shocked breath when the frigid air hits your bare shins, but regardless, you grit your teeth and carry on – after all, you’d made the same journey in far less.

And so, you find yourself all but running through the snow (as well as you could run, anyway), the locals of Snowdin throwing you slightly amused glances and friendly greetings, which you hurriedly return in kind, your teeth chattering already – regardless, you kept at it, even upping your pace just a touch; getting it over and done with as fast as you could was probably the right idea…..right?

With the strange combination of forced running and sliding around awkwardly like a newly born giraffe in the snow, you finally reach the warm wooden doors of Grillby’s establishment, entering with a relieved groan, especially when the heat from the interior hits against your aching, freezing cold knees.

Shockingly, the interior of Grillby’s is practically dead for the time of day – even the dog patrol seemed to be absent. In fact, it seemed that the only monsters present were Mike (who was sat grumbling on his usual stool at the bar), and Seymour, who was talking to Johan as he happily tapped at the duke box (and of course Grillby, but that was a given).

Frowning softly to yourself, you wander in, shrugging off your coat and shivering as the heat flows sweetly over your skin; it was such a relief being out of the snow.

After a few softly murmured greetings to the other monsters present, you make your way over to the ‘fire escape’ to search for your fiery employer.

“Grillllbbbbbyyy, I’m home!”

You hear a chuckle of laughter and an audible crackle from the ‘break room’ and grin, making your way over. Grillby is sat comfortably on one of the couches, with a white china coffee cup placed delicately upon his knees.

For the barest of moments you’re distracted as you hear what _must_ be Grillby’s magic signature – it ebbed and flowed, almost like the sound of the ocean; that same sense of incredible power, yet the tranquillity that also seemed to accompany it. And, as stereotypical as it was, it sounded…. _warm_. Comforting. It reminded you of the times you’d spent with Toriel, reading novel after novel by her fireplace.

“Oh my, y/n, you certainly know how to make an entrance.”

“Hey, it’s a big occasion – first day back and all that.”

“Indeed – I’m sorry that it won’t be all that exciting a shift….in fact, please, do take a seat. I would offer you a drink, but I’m afraid that this is, ah….not exactly suitable for human consumption.”

Sitting down next to him, placing your coat on the edge of the couch, you sink into the cushions with an audible, relieved sigh – the heat Grillby gave off naturally was more than a relief after coming in from the snow outside. Curious despite yourself, you glance into the cup, your mouth hanging open upon seeing that the contents appeared to…. _lava._

“Is….is that….wait, how the _hell_ is china able to-”

“As Sans would say, ‘magic’. Or perhaps he would actually be able to give you a viable reason, who knows.”

You let out a disbelieving laugh, rolling your eyes.

“And miss out on teasing me? As if. But seriously, is that….just….lava? Actual lava?”

“Not quite. Think of it as a mixture between tea and a cocktail for fire elementals – though I will admit that lava is indeed an ingredient.”

He nonchalantly takes a sip as you continue to stare in mute surprise.

“...does it taste….nice?”

Grillby’s flames flicker in amusement, his smile twitching.

“It’s certainly….interesting. And believe it or not, quite relaxing.”

“I’ll take your word for it. So, is there a reason why the bar’s so dead tonight?”

Grillby lets out a gentle sigh, taking another sip.

“As a matter of fact….the entire Royal Guard have been called out by Undyne herself for a ‘retrain’ - and I can only guess it’s due to a certain human.”

You let out a slightly awkward chuckle, reflexively fiddling with your fingers.

“Oh, uh….well, I guess you could call us friends now?”

“A definite improvement, even if it has cost me my custom for the night.”

He lets out a long suffering sigh, taking another delicate sip of his drink.

“….yet you don’t look very upset.”

“Well, I have to admit that having a rest for once is quite pleasant. Hopefully it won’t last….I’m not very good at staying still for extended periods of time – I tend to get irritable.”

“...which is a polite way of saying you’re a workaholic.”

He snorts into his coffee cup, the lava contents swilling dangerously, threatening to spill over – but thankfully Grillby manages to readjust the cup just in time.

“I’ll have you know that it’s a family tradition – and that I am the shame of said family for being ‘lazy’.”

You laugh, thinking that he was joking, before you absorb his raised brow at your amusement.

“...wait, seriously? Grillby, you’re anything but-”

“Not in my father’s eyes, I’m afraid. A little establishment like this?”

“You’re joking. Before I came along, you ran this place single-handedly! I mean, you cater to the whole of Snowdin, right?”

“Ah, another sore point for my poor father. After all, all self-respecting fire elementals work in Hotland, everybody knows that.”

“….are you telling me you’re the black sheep of your family?”

He raises his coffee cup in a mock salute, his grin sardonic.

“Well, I…..wow. I’m sorry, but in my eyes, you’re not really….”

He chuckles, setting down his empty cup on the coffee table.

“Oh? And how would you describe a ‘black sheep’, then?”

“Hmm….well, usually it’s a silly stereotype of tattoos and piercings, lots of black clothing and swearing, etcetera etcetera…”

“Ah. Well, to be fair I do wear a lot of black.”

You giggle, following him out as he stands and walks back towards the unnaturally quiet bar; which was still just as unoccupied as it was previously – the only difference being that Johan was now attempting to encourage the other two patrons to dance to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.

“C’mon my dudes! I promise you, this is the most radical of dances up on the surface – right ‘lil miss?”

You blink, not expecting to be dragged into this particular bar drama.

“Ah, um….well, it’s true that almost everybody knows it, but-”

“See! I told you! C’mon Mike, get into the groove!”

Johan attempts to drag the fish monster from his perch, only receiving a grumpy slurp as a reaction.

“Hell no. Buzz off, I’m drowning my sorrows.”

Johan makes a slight noise of complaint, but soon contents himself by attempting to teach Seymour the same famous movements; and while Seymour is clearly trying his best, vines aren’t exactly well suited for dancing.

Giggling gently at their antics, you make your way behind the bar, busying yourself by putting away the small amount of accumulated dirty glasses while Grillby goes about fetching Mike a fresh pint of ‘Gold Brew’; leaning on the bar top, you look at the fish monster worriedly as his new drink is passed to him.

“What’s up?”

He looks up at your words slowly, with narrowed, blank eyes, muttering angrily under his breath.

 

“As if you don’t know, _human_.”

 

You flinch back in reflex, not expecting the venom in his tone; the bar around you goes quiet, appearing to be just as surprised as you were.

“...I’m….sorry?”

Mike sneers at you, taking a heavy gulp of his new drink.

“I somehow doubt it. After all, you seemed to be _so_ happy about Steve and Bonnie.”

You frown, still not understanding this seemingly sudden animosity.

“...well, yeah. I mean, their relationship is going well, right?”

Mike suddenly jolts to a stand, looming over you, thick mucus dripping onto the counter top.

“That’s _exactly_ the point! They’re off doing whatever it is ‘happy couples’ do, and meanwhile I’m left here to rot, drinking myself into a pit, doomed to be single and miserable-”

“Hey now, that’s not….”

You take in a breath to steady yourself, before looking up at him with as much fire in your expression as you could muster.

“That’s not true. Mike, you’re only going to be ‘single and miserable’ if you believe yourself to be. A relationship isn’t a quick fix to happiness – you’re only going to be happy if you….if you find it within yourself. And yeah, I know, something like that isn’t easy – not even a little bit. It takes time, and support….and you know that Steve will always be good for that, right? He cares about you, even if he is in a relationship, after all. But Mike….nobody can just come along and….fix you. That’s not the way it works – and honestly, if that’s what you think a relationship's good for, then you’re not ready for one.”

Mike is silent for the barest of moments, gazing down at you with something akin to shock; before he bursts into wet laughter, splattering more mucus on the bartop.

“Heh, of course, I really don’t know what I expected. _Of course_. Well, if you think I’m going to open up to you, _human_ , you’ve got another thing coming….urgh, I knew it was a mistake to go to Captain Undyne, when I should have gone straight to the king….”

“...what?”

He seems to falter for a moment, before his sneer returns full-force.

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag – not that it was much of a secret.”

“You….you’re the one who told Undyne about me?”

Your fists clench reflexively, bile rising up your throat as your body freezes in shock; Mike’s sneer only becomes wider as he leans down towards you all the more, the surface of the bar now soaked with his thick mucus coating.

“You bet I did. You’re the only thing that stands between us and the outside world – you understand that, right? Yet here you are, playing at matchmaker, making ‘friends’ – how _disgusting._ I wish I could jus-”

His words are abruptly cut off by Grillby slamming his open palms on the bar-top, thoroughly shoving himself between you and the fish monster, his raging flames rising higher and higher, threatening to hit the ceiling; you hiss, backing off naturally from the sheer heat threatening to burn your skin.

“ _Out_. And if you value your life-”

Grillby grabs a handful of Mike’s t-shirt, and you vaguely noticed the viscous flesh of the fish monster starting to singe under the heat.

“- _never come back_.”

With that, Grillby shoves the fish monster back with such a force that Mike lands with a startled gasp on the floor, gaping up at the inferno that Grillby had become.

But just as the fish monster started to attempt to struggle up, he was sent crashing back into the floor as a familiar skeleton popped into existence next to him, surrounding him in blue magic and effectively thrusting his face with a wet slap into the wooden flooring.

“Heh. Man buddy, you’re not even able to stand up? Don’t ‘cha think you’ve had one too many?”

Sans receives a muffled grunting as a reply, causing him to tut.

“And woulda look at that, you can’t even talk. Well….if that’s what you want, who am I to argue?”

Sans leans in a little closer to the pretty much pinned Mike, his grin shifting wider, his eye-lights extinguishing within his sockets.

“ **Let’s go get you** _ **smashed**_ **.** ”

Mike lets out a faint whimper from his home on the floor as Sans straightens, directing a far more normal grin towards you and Grillby.

“I’ll come pick you up after work, ‘kay y/n? Just….hang tight ‘till then.”

And with that, the two of them blink out of existence, leaving the bar in momentary startled silence – momentary for in the next couple of seconds Grillby lets out a heavy sigh, glancing up at the ceiling.

“Now….it’s certainly been quite some time since I’ve scorched the paint-work.”

He lets out another exasperated sound as he looks at the slime left on the counter-top; before looking over to you with the barest of smiles, concern ruling his features, his tone light despite the heavy atmosphere.

“Well, at least we now have something to do, y/n – even if it’s just cleaning.”

 

You can’t bring yourself to answer.

 

You’re shaking too much.

 

Suddenly Grillby grabs you up into a fierce hug, stroking your hair and making gentle shushing sounds; you hadn’t even been aware that you’d been crying, but the tell-tale hisses of tears hitting his flames were a dead giveaway.

“Shh, dear one, you’re alright.”

“….I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“...but I-”

“No. Trust me when I say that his words and actions are unspeakable – if anyone is at fault here, it is him, not you. Jealousy is truly an ugly trait, and it appears that Mike has decided to wear it like one wears a suit. You’ve made his friend happy, happier than he ever made him – and instead of bettering himself, he’s taking it out on you in the worst way possible.”

You shudder, your breath stuttering as the tears kept streaming down your cheeks; after all the trails of today, it was a wonder you had any tears left, yet here they were.  
Grillby lets out a long sigh, cupping your cheek (which instantly hissed on contact), looking over your expression with the utmost care – he tuts after a moment, turning to Seymour and Johan, who were watching on anxiously.  
“….I’m afraid I’ll be closing early for tonight.”  
“N-no-”  
“Dear one, listen to me – you are not troubling anyone, nor are you a burden. Please, this is my choice. After all, you’re my top employee – it would be a travesty not to take care of you.”  
Despite the continued light tone of his words, you still try to speak up, to assure him that you were ok, you could deal with this-  
-he silences you with an oddly parental glance.

Johan and Seymour leave quickly, murmuring words of comfort to you as they do so; and soon, the doors to the bar were closed. Grillby gently patted the top of your head as he let go of you, heading over to the doors and sliding the lock home.  
“Now. Let us….go sit in the break room.”  
“Grillby-”  
“No. The bar can wait. For now, y/n, let’s think about you.”  
After a moment of simply staring at him, you hang your head in defeat, rubbing away a few more tears as you followed after him, back into the comforting space of the break room. He carefully pushes you down into the couch, sitting next to you with a worried frown.  
“….you believe his words, don’t you?”  
Your head snaps up in surprise, not expecting the question.  
“I-”  
“About being useless around here, about selfishness. Some part of you believes that to be true, no?”  
After a moment, you look down at your hands….

...and nod.  
“I….I don’t want to hurt any of you. I’m not going to do anything stupid, so…..but if I-”  
You blink, realising that you’d never even told Grillby of all the tests on your soul.  
“Y/n?”  
“I uh…..I’ll explain in a minute, but….there may be another way for me to break the barrier, a way that’s not….death. But if it’s not a possible option, I-”  
“No. I’ve said to you before, have I not? A path paved in blood….is that really how monsterkind wants to rejoin the world above? It’s certainly not what I wish, and that’s an opinion I have held long before I met you, y/n. And now that I have? You are like…..like family to me, as well as being a dear friend. And I would not trade that for _anything_ in this world, or the next, do you understand me? I will not…..I will not lose anyone else I care about.”

Grillby took a long moment to gather himself, breathing evenly as his flames settled – before he stared at you with a curious gaze.  
“….an alternate option? And this wouldn’t hurt you?”  
You shuffle in place on the couch, frowning slightly.  
“Honestly, I have no idea if it will hurt me….but it certainly won’t mean death. I, uh….basically the short version is that….there’s something odd about my soul.”  
Grillby’s head quirked to the side as you struggled through your explanation.  
“...it might mean I’m a mage. And if I can do magic...then apparently that might be enough to overpower the barrier?”  
Instead of looking surprised by the news as you’d thought he would be, he instead looked thoughtful, humming as he suddenly stood, fingers tapping at his chin – before he smiled down at you, as if trying to reassure you.   
“….I’m just fetching us some drinks.”  
He quickly strode across the room, leaving you to worry, fingers knotting and tying together.  


_He must hate you. Hate that you’re a mage. Can’t stand to be in the same room-_

 

“Dear one, I hope that your favoured drink is alright?”

You blink, looking up from your tensed hands.  
“Oh, uh, yes, thank you.”  
Grillby immediately frowned, setting the glass of Kalon down before you on the coffee table, before sitting back next to you – his own drink appeared to be the bizarre lava mix he’d been indulging in before. After staring at it for a moment, you hesitantly look up at Grillby, only to find him staring at you, still with that worried, piercing gaze.  
“….are you concerned I would find you abhorrent all of a sudden, my dear?”  
You stuttered in surprise; he merely chuckled, though it was without humour as he patted your hand.  
“….y/n, your status as a potential mage does not bother me in the least, let me assure you of that. As a matter of fact, it leaves me feeling oddly….relieved.”  
“….relieved?”  
He nodded briefly, taking a sip of his drink, motioning you to do the same. Your shaking hands slowly pick up the glass, bringing it to your lips, the sweet, familiar flavours washing over you, soothing you ever so slightly.

He smiled softly, almost as if he knew how the drink had helped you nerves; in fact, he probably did, considering he and he alone knew what magics it possessed.

“...yes, relieved. Magic will assist you in other ways, of that I’m sure – you live amongst monsters, dear one, beings constructed from magic itself. How could having a little yourself hurt in such a situation?”  
He chuckled softly, before looking down into his drink thoughtfully, then back to you.  
“Y/n, forgive me for this, but….this incident with Mike isn’t the only thing upsetting you, is it?”  
You blink, caught off guard; before all but hiding your face as you take another sip of your drink. Grillby tuts, drawing your attention back to him almost immediately – after all your time with Toriel, ignoring that caring, parental tone was near enough impossible.

“...today we did some other tests, to confirm how….likely it was I was a mage.”  
“Which ones were they?”  
You bite your lip, shifting in your seat.  
“...the….toxicity exam, and the molecular attributes test-”  
“Ah. Yes.”  
“You know….about them?”  
Grillby’s mouth twitches, his brow rising.

“Another thing that my soulmate took great joy in. Teaching me about any and every experiment that happened to pop into his skull at the time….”  
He sighs slightly, tea-cup laying forgotten in his hands, his brow knotting.  
“….they were exams he often had to oversee, as the king put…..far more effort into the building up the Guard in those days. Undyne herself is a little more select when it comes to candidates, it seems – unless….”  
His fingers tap thoughtfully on the china, his flames softly crackling….before he turned back to you with a gentle smile.  
“Ah, I apologise – my thoughts ran away from me for but a moment. As you were saying?”  
  
...you could only think how much that reminded you of Gaster.  
  
“That’s ok – happens to everyone, heh. Um, right….yeah, I did the exams, and they found that I responded with a non-physical reaction. So…..tah-dah.”  
You waved the hand not holding your drink vaguely, which ruined the effect of ‘jazz-hands’ somewhat, but it made Grillby chuckle all the same; before he examined you a little closer, flames popping.  
“….but that is not all that happened, is it?”  
You gulped, shaking your head, looking down into the sparking liquid, your features tight.

“….no, it’s not. I….something went wrong in the attributes test. I mean, I don’t know _what_ went wrong, but apparently it wasn’t supposed to be like that-”  
You blink as you feel the glass slowly being taken out of your hands; you hadn’t even realised how bad you’d started to shake, almost as much as you had been out by the bar. Grillby carefully places both beverages down on the coffee table, before taking your hands in his, looking at you with such a grave, yet caring concern, your eyes were filling again without any input – what had you ever done to make people care about you as much as they did?

“….take your time, y/n. But forgive me for saying….as difficult as it must be, this must be something you need to talk about.”

You laugh slightly, wiping at the tears on your cheeks to ensure they don’t fall onto Grillby’s hands. Of course, you trusted him, but it had never even occurred to you to just….open up to him like this.

“….well, when I ‘woke up’, it started in the lab….”  
And so, you worked through every painful detail of what had happened to you while you were trapped in that horrific dreamscape; at points you couldn’t help but break down into sobs, the memories still raw in your mind, but throughout your tale Grillby simply sat, gently holding your hands, expression attentive and caring.

There for you every step of the way.

And when you’d finally finished, he hummed slightly in the back of his throat, before standing and walking across the room; you’re about to question his motives, before you spot him picking up a small box of tissues – he walks quite fast back to you from that point, considering the box had quickly began to smoke. He hastily puts it down on the table, and you quickly slapped at it with your hands, wincing even as you started to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Grillby chuckled along with you, his cheeks slowly turning pink.  
“...I’ve never agreed all that well with paper, I’m afraid.”

“I can see that, heh.”

Your giggles sober as you carefully mop your face with the thankfully unsinged tissues, looking at the smoking box duly as you did so.   
“….why have them?”  
“I’m sorry, have what?”

“The tissues. I mean, as you don’t, uh, agree with them?”  
His own expression became a little sombre at that.

“….for Sans. Though admittedly I usually prepare with something in advance to prevent damaging the box in the process….”

Your lip quivered as your mind continued to tick over all that had happened today.

Sans had never even…. _mentioned_ the results he was looking for after the tests.

That was bad, right?

It had to be.

You heard Grillby hum slightly, watching him through a new haze of tears push the box towards you (though he obviously kept that contact rather brief), before pushing your glass of Kalon a little closer along with it.

“….what else, dear one? What else has-”  
“I’m j-just….”

You breathing hitched as you curled in on yourself a little.

“….I don’t think I got the right test result.”

Grillby’s brow puckered in confusion, his mouth forming a frown.

“What do you mean, dear one? Learning that you are a mage, while frightening, is surely a comfort given the alternative with the-”  
“N-no….not that part. I...”  
You gulped, expression crumpling.

“….I have no idea how to use magic, Grillby. I’m just….I’m so scared. I’m so scared I’ll let you all down, and I’ve obviously already let down Sans-”  
Grillby holds up a hand to stop you, his expression a mixture of quiet confusion and…..oddly, frustration. But before you mind could begin to concoct any misgrievences about such an expression, he spoke.

“…y/n, you could never let me down, and I imagine it is quite the same for the others that know and love you. Even for some monsters, who are obviously born with the abilities, magic can be a difficult thing to control at times – it is…..it is like one of your muscles, yes? To build it up, to make it strong, it takes time, practise.”

He chuckled slightly, his smile quirking.

“I apologise. My knowledge on the human body structure is a little….limited. But do you understand what I mean? Learning how to use the magic that your soul obviously possesses will take time – you may not notice it now, but it will be there, hiding in plain sight. Do not give up before you have begun, y/n.”  
He patted your hands deftly, before he frowns in concern.

“….now, what is this about letting Sans down in particular?”

You shifted a little in your seat, taking a small sip of Kalon to gather your nerves before continuing.

“Well, Sans was…..looking for a particular result, or something? He’s been hiding a lot from me Grillby, I can feel it – and don’t worry, I don’t plan to push him on things that he doesn’t want to talk about, but-”

You cut yourself as a frustrated growl seems to leave Grillby as he placed his hand over his face.

“….goodness, he is _such_ a fool…”

“...Grillby?”

He seems to come back to himself, smiling at you comfortingly, though you could tell that he was still frustrated, given the aggravated flicker of his flames.

“Please, do carry on.”

“….he said there was something that….was important that he couldn’t tell me, that he was looking for this result, and wouldn’t tell me until after. But he hasn’t mentioned anything about it since….I t-think I must have just….”

Grillby let out a long, hard sigh at your words, looking up at the ceiling for what felt like the longest of times, before looking back to you, his flames flickering with a sudden energy.

“….dear one, forgive me for this, but I….I cannot sit by any longer.”

“...I’m sorry?”

He stared at you for a moment, before nodding slightly to himself.

“Do you mind if I….do you mind if I talk this matter over with you, instead of Sans? Of course, I will allow him to explain certain things for himself, but…..you do not deserve to be kept in the dark over something of such importance.”

You gulped, turning slightly to face him, confusion ruling your features – something so serious that Grillby felt the need to step in? And Sans had just been hiding it from you this entire time, even though you’d already expressed to him how you felt about such secrets being kept from you when you spoke in the Ruins all that time ago?

“Please. Tell me.”

Grillby nodded briefly, standing once again to stride across the room, ducking slightly to carefully slide out of the laminated books out from the bookshelf, before sitting back down next to you, placing the book carefully down into your lap.

And you look down at it in mute confusion.

“….a dictionary? What has this-”

“Look up your drink.”

“...Kalon?”

“Yes. Please do, it will be a good starting point.”

You huff a little, slightly frustrated yourself now, but do as he says regardless, carefully flicking your way through the smooth pages to K, trailing your fingers down the page until-

 

**Kalon**

noun

ka·lon | \kəˈlän, (ˈ)ka¦l-\

plural -s

**Definition of** _**kalon** _ _ _

**:** the ideal of physical and moral beauty especially as conceived by the philosophers of classical Greece

 

 

It takes you a moment to collect your mind, your cheeks more or less completely flushed as you finally understood the words in front of you; you chuckled slightly, looking up at Grillby with an awkward smile.

“Uh, _heh_ , guess he thinks pretty highly of me, huh-”

“No.”

He carefully closes the book, looking you dead in the eyes with a seriousness that you hadn’t expected from him.

“No. It’s far more than that, y/n.”

You blink, flushing more, your mouth opening to say….to say something-

“Dear one. Please. I know that you do not view yourself as someone worthy of such praise, such high regard, but it is how he sees you – that and more. And I….I cannot explain his reasoning for keeping such a thing from you, but that is a question you must as him yourself.”

“...I...I don’t...”

“Y/n.”

His hands grip yours, as if he was attempting to concrete his almost unbelievable words into your mind – to show you this wasn’t a joke, he was just as serious as his expression was suggesting.

 

“Y/n. Sans is….your soulmate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, as you can see, extra long chapter this week! I love you guys so much, so yeah >.<  
> AND GRILLBY WAS JUST AS FED UP WITH THE SLOWBURN AS YOU GUYS. GET IT. SLOWBURN. 'CAUSE HE'S-
> 
> ....I'll just show myself out. 
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	68. No More Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally hear the truth from Sans....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

For a few moments, your mind is simply a humming blank, Grillby’s words bouncing backwards and forwards as puzzle pieces from the past month snap into place.  
How he always knew things.

How he always knew to be in the right place at the right time.

….yes, so many things were becoming clear to you at last.

 

And god, were you incredibly pissed about the whole thing.

 

“...dear one? Are you quite-”  
You realise your hands had balled into hard fists, your teeth gritting together tight in your mouth to the point of squeaking – you could only imagine how furious your expression was.  
“ _How could he?_ How could he hide this from me?!”

Grillby let out a long, hard sigh, patting one of your clenched fists with the same frustrated expression he’d possessed previously.  
“...I’m afraid I’ve spoken to him about it before. You recall that evening with the hot sauce, yes?”  
You nodded, anger momentarily forgotten as the memory was brought to the forefront of your mind – though it still bubbled beneath the surface, simply itching to find the true target in this little ‘situation’.

“….I was angry at him initially for not only treating _you_ poorly, but treating his _soulmate_ poorly – someone that should be…..treasured. Stars knows that I didn’t treasure mine while he was here enough...”  
He coughed slightly, flames quivering for the barest of moments as he shook himself.  
“...but yes, I digress. I spoke with him then about the matter of telling you, something he promised me he would do soon – and yet, here we are.”

You brow puckers, nails digging into your palms; his words only seemed to fuel the rage inside you, and you supposed it was rightly so.

...not only that, there was the subject of Gaster again, another stupid secret, something that should never be kept.

 _Stupid_ skeletons and their _stupid_ secrets.

“….do you know why he….”  
“...why he kept it from you? Well, at the time he said he simply didn’t want to feel as if he was forcing you into something you wouldn’t want – after all, humans and monsters are quite different in more ways than one, despite being fairly compatible when it comes to….relationships. But still, with this news of you being a mage, I would have thought that was more than enough incentive….”

You frown, cocking your head curiously despite all the emotions raging inside you.

“How do you mean? With the….mage thing, I mean?”  
“...well….we monsters often….communicate in a manner than humans would never be able to understand, and that is via a variety of different magics. And this is especially true for monsters who are soulmates….perhaps before when he thought you were simply human he was wary of scaring you with such alien concepts, but now that your status as a mage as been revealed? Well. He has no excuse.”  
You grumbled, pinching the bridge of your nose for a moment, before taking a sip of your drink – and as lovely as the taste of it was, it left you feeling somewhat bitter, considering the name Sans had all but given it in honour of how he felt about you; knowing that he’d simply…..sat on those feelings for as long as he had, all while you had been torturing yourself over your own feelings-

-it made you feel like a complete idiot.

“….how could I have….just missed this? I mean, it makes so much sense-”

“Dear one. How could you know? You know the barest knowledge when it comes to magic, and the things we monsters simply take for granted. For instance, tell me – how do you tell another is your soulmate?”

You frowned for a moment, thinking it over.

“...well, I guess….you know when they’re sad-”  
“No. Heh, while I must admit I am glad you’ve reached such a stage, I meant on _first sight._ Initial contact.”

After a long moment of simply staring at him, you shrug, looking away with shame flickering across your expression. Grillby tuts, bringing your attention back to his slightly stern features.

“Y/n, remember what I said – you haven’t been raised with this knowledge, while all those around you have. We all know the signs, what to look for….”  
“….so….Sans knew about this the second he met me?”

“I imagine so, yes.”

After a long moment of allowing that to sink in, you huffed angrily, mental exhaustion pulling at your features. He’d known all along….

 

...but then you thought more about it.

 

Grillby had said he hadn’t wanted to force you into anything – and you supposed that knowing such knowledge at the start wouldn’t have given you the chance to get to know him properly, as you had; to fall in love with him as you had. And true, perhaps that connection you felt with him was something pre-determined, but….it meant a lot to you that he’d allowed you the time to become his friend first before realising how you felt.

….but you were still angry at him for hiding it for this long. Grillby was right, it made sense before, but with the mage thing, well – surely he could have told you then? But you supposed it would be something to ask him, and only him; thinking of ‘what ifs’ wouldn’t help you now.

“...how did he know, then?”

Grillby took a breath, expression contemplative as he thought over the wording.

“….it’s a strange sense of…..familiarity. An instant friendship with another, despite having never spoken with them. Instant trust, despite them never having proved how trustworthy they are as a person. A kinship, if you will, but…..deeper, something your very soul recognises. It is….a bizarre feeling. Almost frightening.”  
He seemed to snap out of his thoughts a little, smiling at you ruefully.  
“I assume you didn’t feel any of that?”  
“Well, I mean….I….maybe?”  
The more you thought on the words, the more it made sense. You’d be _terrified_ at first, caught up in Sans’ magic – until the moment you’d laid eyes on him.

Then you’d…. _laughed_.

Made friends with him, like it was the most natural thing in the world, trusted his word without hesitation.  
“No, you’re…..you’re right, it was exactly like that.”  
Grillby chuckled, smile quirking.  
“Well, for that, I am most pleased. At least your soul knew his, even if you had no idea what that meant at the time. It is….well, dear one. How do you….how do you feel about it? About him?”

Your eyes widened at his words, before trailing down to your lap as you thought the question over. How _did_ you feel?

“I….I’m angry at him, but….I want to hear what he has to say about the whole thing. Wouldn’t be fair not to, considering it’s as important as it is. I mean….he’s been an ass at times, sure, but he’s never been someone I couldn’t trust – though, heh, considering I would trust him otherwise, I….oh, that’s confusing.”

Grillby chuckled softly, sipping delicately from his coffee cup.

“Understandably so. Even with monsters, you must understand – while your soul may know and trust his, your mind will, naturally, still takes time to do so. Relationships take time and effort on both sides; as wonderful a concept as it is, love does not happen over-night.”

You huffed out a gentle sigh at that.  
“So it’s not a ‘love at first sight’ kind of thing?”  
“For some I imagine it is. However, I know in my case….well, the start was quite turbulent, to put it shortly.”

He chuckled, sitting back a little into the cushions of the couch, his expression wistful while you watched on with interest.

“….he hated me, at first. Or, no, rather, thought I was….well, in his wording ‘an annoying pest’.”  
Grillby snorted out a soft laugh, taking another sip of his drink before continuing.

“And I suppose I was. You see, dear one, I’m something of an old-fashioned romantic – and the moment I felt my soul stirring in recognition I….well, let’s say the poor man had an overabundance of flowers in his life.”

You giggled, inwardly imagining how much Gaster must have blushed over such a thing.  
“But he eventually stopped finding you ‘annoying’?”  
Grillby smirked, flames flickering smugly.

“Oh no, he still found me annoying. He simply began to find the aggravation endearing after a time.”

You let out another soft bought of laughter, knowing you’d tease Gaster about this later…...oh. _Oh no._

You were his son’s soulmate.

_And he’d probably known all along._

You cover your embarrassed expression barely with an exaggerated coughing fit, leaving Grillby to watch on worriedly.

“Dear one, are you alright?”

You straighten, gulping, before nodding with a reassuring grin.

“Yup! Just, uh, swallowed wrong, nothing awful.”

Grillby hummed slightly, examining your expression for a while, before nodding.

“Alright. Regardless, I digress – of course you’d be annoyed with him at the present moment, but….how do you _feel_ about him?”  
You flushed, laughing awkwardly – but then, Grillby made it sound less of a gossiping session (as it had been with Alphys and Undyne), and more of something of great importance; to him, or to this situation, you couldn’t be sure.

“I….I realised that I liked him a while ago, actually.”

Grillby nodded in a strangely business-like fashion, taking another sip of his drink, appearing to drain the cup.

“Well then. And does he know this? How you feel?”  
You shake your head, swilling the remains of your drink around, watching the liquid swirl as you bit your lip. Grillby chuckled softly, letting out a sigh as he did so, flames popping.

“Y/n, please – you’re not on trial. These kinds of things are never simple – but the most important things are _communication_ and _honesty_. Please, talk to him, tell him how you feel – well, perhaps allow him to apologise first, as there would be no point in rewarding him at the present moment in time.”

You absently let out a snort of incredulous laughter, your mind still mulling over his words. Obviously, communication and honesty were more than neglected in this particular circumstance. And that wasn’t just on Sans – that was on you, as well. Sure, some of it you couldn’t help, but….

 

….learning about this soulmate business put things into a different light.

 

No, it was time to come clean about it _all_ – everything you were able to say, you would. True, you’d never had what could be called a ‘relationship’ on the surface, but you’d always promised yourself that if you’d ever find someone who could fit that criteria, being honest and open would be something of extreme importance.

It would be hard; more than, you’d wager, considering the things you’d have to go over. But as Grillby had said, these things were never easy. But then, you supposed that they wouldn’t be nearly as rewarding if it _w_ _as_ easy.

“….yeah, I will. Um. Speaking of, uh…..you don’t think he’ll hurt Mike _too_ bad, right?”

Instead of laughing as you’d expected him to do, Grillby’s expression instead turned dark, his flames flickering dangerously.

“I’m afraid to say that I hope that he _does_ , y/n. What he did….well, I sincerely hope that he comes to understand how disgusting his actions have been. To condemn another to potential death, due to jealousy? And not only that, but to condemn someone who had been nothing but kind to him?”

He huffed, smoke billowing out his mouth as his flames began to settle.

“You must excuse me. Sans won’t do anything stupid, don’t worry – who knows, he might even be able to beat some sense into him…..though I somewhat doubt it.”

You finished off the rest of your drink awkwardly, not knowing quite how to answer that; as a matter of fact, you still hadn’t processed how you felt about the whole thing. Betrayed, you supposed….perhaps you would feel angry later, but at the present moment you were still too shocked by the whole thing. Just thinking about it made you feel sick to your stomach – true, you hadn’t been friends with Mike exactly, but you’d spoken with him, made jokes, served him drinks and food. It wasn’t on the same level as truly knowing someone, but you honestly thought that he was better than that.

You let out a heavy sigh, setting down your now empty glass back on the coffee table with a dull clunk.

“I’m sorry that my first day back at work has been….well, this, heh.”

Grillby huffed, a sad smile pulling at his features.

“So am I, dear one. I had hoped that the quiet atmosphere would have been a fairly nice welcome back, to allow you to get back into the swing of things.”

“Well…..we do still have a bar to clean up?”

After a moment, Grillby chuckled, his flames crackling as his grin widened.

“That we do, y/n.”

~

 

“Oh dear, y/n, please, do be careful!”

“Don’t worry, I’m g-good!”

Of course, Grillby didn’t know that you were a little tentative around heights (thank you, bridge of death), so when he’d asked you if you wanted to be the one to scrub the scorch marks off the ceiling (after all, a damp sponge was a quicker job than having to re-paint)….well, of course you’d said yes. The scorch marks wouldn’t even be there in the first place if it wasn’t for…

 

….aaand that thought was better left well alone.

 

You huffed, scrubbing hard at the last of the marks, doing your best to ignore the ladder wobbling dangerously below you even with Grillby holding it – because you knew that if you were stupid enough to look down, well, it’d be game over in terms of hiding your fear from Grillby.

Your features tighten in concentration, tongue sticking out ever so slightly as you finish up at last, eyes carefully scanning over the area to make sure you hadn’t missed a single spot.

“How does that look?”

You heard Grillby crackle from below you, and you instantly need to shove down the anxiety of the wooden ladder burning down thanks to the literal fire holding it steady.

“As if it had never been damaged in the first place – thank you so much.”

“Heh, no problem. I guess I’ll just….uh….”

You awkwardly begin your decent, shoving down the need to shut your eyes as you did so. But thankfully you were back on solid ground before long, resisting to urge to heave out a sigh of relief – but the emotion must have been more than palpable on your face, as Grillby tutted under his breath, flames sputtering.

“Dear one, while I really do appreciate your work, you should have said that you felt uncomfortable!”

You waved a hand dismissively with a small bout of slightly shaky laughter.

“Nah, it’s all good. I mean, it’s not like it wasn’t safe – just a bit wobbly. Heh, and now you’ve got yourself a clean ceiling!”

As a matter of fact, the whole bar was clean once again – it was almost as if the altercation with Mike had never happened in the first place.

Well, aside from a small dent in the floor when Mike had been laying in the end – though whether that was from Grillby throwing him from the bar, or from Sans slamming him back into the floor, you couldn’t be sure. Either way, Grillby had seemed oddly smug about it being there, instead of being upset about the imperfection in his flooring.

“….very true, I suppose.”

He chuckled, mussing up your hair a little, making you let loose a noise of complaint and attempt to lean away as he only laughed louder as a result.

“Heh, well, looks like your shift is all over and done with, y/n. Uh…..you...ok?”

You’d all but frozen up in surprise and uncertainty at the sound of Sans’ voice, your eyes travelling over to Grillby automatically for support. Sure, you’d been gathering yourself up for this mentally, preparing your angry speeches, but now that he was actually here in the building, and you knew the information that you did….

Grillby sighed, his hand leaving your hair as he smiled over at Sans; though you could tell by the flicker of his flames that was restraining himself.

“….she’s alright. And yes, you’re quite correct – your shift is complete for the night y/n. You’re free to go home – I won’t have you climbing up any more ladders.”

Gulping slightly, you nodded, before finally being able to bring yourself to look in Sans’ direction; his expression was a bizarre combination of concern, confusion and apprehension – and you supposed that if he could feel some of the strong emotions bouncing off you, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that he was a little conflicted.

You didn’t try to force a smile on your face as you approached him, his eye-lights narrowing down just a touch as you did.

“I’ll see you Friday, y/n, if I do not see you beforehand.”

You turn away from Sans for a fraction of a moment, smiling warmly at the fire elemental.

“See you later, Grillby. And….thank you for everything.”

He nodded back to you with a verging on grim smile, waving to the two of you as he walked through the fire-escape. But before you could even turn back to Sans, you feel his arms gently slip around your waist, his soft exhale ruffling your hair as the world around you fades to the darkness of the Void; then you found yourself in the familiar space of the living room, the lights off, the room dark – the only illumination coming from outside (which still didn’t make sense, considering the lack of sunlight, and therefore moonlight).

Sans still hadn’t removed his arms from around your waist, his body pressing hard against your back as he held you close.

“….I’m so sorry that had to happen, y/n.”

For an awful moment, you think he’s talking about Grillby having to open your eyes to the truth at last, before you realised he meant Mike.

“….Sans, I need to talk to you.”

“I didn’t kill him or anything, ok? Just, uh...”

He let out an awkward laugh, and you had to fight to roll your eyes, expression hardening as you readied the speeches you’d prepared in your head.

“It’s not about that…..uh, could you….let me go?”

There was a solid beat of silence before he did as you asked, his expression concerned at the serious tone of your voice, that concern only increasing as he took in your equally serious expression.

“Y/n? Are you-”

“Sans. I need you to be honest with me.”

His eye-lights narrowed down a touch, but he nodded all the same. You gulped, letting out a steady breath, before continuing.

“...what does Kalon mean?”

 

….his face becomes almost expressionless with shock as you continue to watch on, waiting for his answer.

 

“….why’re you asking?”

“….I think you know why.”

After another moment, he lets out a low groan, his expression frantic as he backs off a step – before you quickly reach out and grasp his arm, mouth set as you kept solid eye-contact.

“Tell me.”

He stared back, expression crumpling a little.

“...but if you already-”

“Tell. Me. I want to hear it from you. And I want to hear why you didn’t tell me before. I….I don’t want any more secrets, or lies, or….. _please._ ”

After a moment, Sans nodded, his body tight with anxiety, his eye-lights little more than pin-pricks.

“….y/n. You’re….you’re my….soulmate.”

You nod, staying silent, sending the clear message you were waiting for the explanation. He huffed out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck, his expression one of shame.

“….I’m….I didn’t tell you at first because, well…..I thought that you were human. Admittedly, a weird one, with the whole thing with your soul, and the Void stuff….and I don’t mean that in a bad way! You’re uh, not weird, that was just a bad way of…..uh…..and I mean, I just didn’t want to freak you out. I didn’t know how you’d feel about it, considering I’m well…..this.”

He vaguely gestured to himself, his expression bitter.

“Not only a monster, but…..I’m not perfect. Someone like you deserves better than a guy like me, full stop. But when we got to know each-other better, I realised you didn’t care about any of that at all. You didn’t care about me being a monster, weren’t scared in the least – and….when it came to me as a person, you just….accepted me.”

He looked at you with something akin to wonder for a long moment, long enough to make your cheeks flush with red; before he coughed slightly, blushing a little himself as he continued.

“Uh, heh, well…..after that we started finding out more about your soul. And I mean….”

His expression became bitter again as he looked away from you, eye-lights shaking.

“….I’m sorry. I was just….I was being selfish. I wanted to see if you were a mage, I wanted to know if we could connect in the way I’d been dreaming about….and I was just _scared_. I was scared about if you weren’t one.”

“...would you not have-”

“No, stars, no! It wouldn’t have changed the way I felt about you, nothing could have – that’s why I told you a few days back that….that it didn’t matter to me any more, but it was important for you to know anyway, and I didn’t want to fill your head with any stress on top of everything-”

“But why didn’t you tell me _after_ the tests, Sans?!”

You hadn’t realised your voice had risen, and quickly look towards the stairs to make sure you hadn’t woken up Papyrus, before your eyes travel back to Sans – he doesn’t look surprised by you being angry however. You supposed he must have been expecting it, and rightly so.

“….I was going to tell you tonight. I figured that….well, after all the shit that happened in the exams, I figured that a shift with Grillbz would make you feel better. I mean….you’re always so happy after them, heh. I didn’t want to spring something this big on you when you’d already gone through so much...”

His eye-lights trailed down to his feet in obvious shame, his voice coming out in a cracked whisper.

“….I’m so sorry, y/n. I’m sorry for all the crap that’s happened today, and I’m so sorry for not telling you. I’m a fucking coward, and-”

You shut him up instantly as you step forwards and hug him tight; his body remains unresponsive, completely frozen against your own.

“I forgive you, ok? I mean, I still….need to know a lot more about this, about this soulmate business, about the mage stuff and why you needed to know I was one – but I forgive you, and I’m….I’m really happy that I know, so don’t be angry with Grillby or anything?”

He snorts out a laugh, body finally loosening up a little as he hugs you back, burying his face in your hair, his voice coming out muffled as a result.

“Nah, he said he’d tell you if I didn’t – always a man of his word, pfft. Did he, uh…..explain much of it to you?”

“He told me about a few things – like how you know how someone’s your soulmate on initial contact.”

Sans let out a slightly nervous laugh, obviously worrying about being told off again.

“And uh, I’ve got to say that I….felt that, when I met you.”

Sans pulled back with a jerk to look down at you, his expression blank shock, mouth hanging open. You snort out a laugh at the almost cartoonish reaction, rolling your eyes, fingers twisting in the material of his hoodie as you continued.

“It’s true. The….kinship thing.”

“….you’re serious?”

You chuckle slightly, nodding with a raised brow. His expression immediately becomes….well, joyous seemed a weak word to use, considering the smile was all but splitting his cheeks – and suddenly you squeak, as you found yourself being spun in an almost Papyrus like fashion as Sans chortled in your ear. You desperately pat at his chest, and he seemed to come back to himself somewhat, setting you down and stepping away with an embarrassed chuckle; but from the grin still present on his face, he was clearly overjoyed.

….but you still had more. After all, you’d promised yourself.

Complete honesty.

Sans had kept up his side of the bargain – now it was your turn.

“Sans….thank you so much for being honest with me about this. And I know that there’s….a lot more for us to go over on about all this….a-and how I feel about it, but…..there’s something else.”

His expression fell a little as he took in your sombre tones and nervous expression; after all, you were going against another promise you’d made. Well, partly, anyway.

“I’ve...I’ve also got something to tell you.”

“O-of course. I’m listening, don’t worry.”

Gulping, you look down at your feet for the barest of moments, before steeling your gaze and looking back up at him, jaw tight.

 

“….I need to see the basement.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, wonder what we're about to tell Sans about, eyyyyy? ;3
> 
> *frantic gasps* LOOK AT THIS AMAZING FANART BY THE WAY. *faints*  
> By jazpercraycray: https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/182004414866/not-the-best-at-landscapes-ha-ha-from-one-of  
> By anti-socials-art: https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/181923664431/anti-socials-art-i-love-one-protective-fire
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	69. Familiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we go down to the basement....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

...there was a long, tense pause. Sans simply stared at you, eye-lights steadily shrinking down as the panic and shock set in.  
“...h-how do you-”  
“Please. I...I think I might be able to explain better when we’re down there.”  
He blinked, clearly confused by your words, and the uncertainty in your voice – and hell, you _were_ uncertain. You didn’t know what the basement contained, aside from having a broken machine that may or may not aid in bringing Gaster back into the world.

He gulped, still staring at you with that slightly stupefied expression of shock; before slowly nodding, his soul sending off panicked hums all the while.  
“I...I won’t be a second. Just got to-”  
“-go get the key, right?”  
This only resulted in more staring, which soon dissolved into almost hysterical chuckles, his eye-lights little more than pin-points in his sockets.

“You’re really starting to freak me out here, y/n.”

You bite your lip, your voice coming out small and unsure. You’d known how difficult this would be to tackle – and truthfully, you didn’t even _know_ if there was a right way to go about telling him all of this, a way that wouldn’t hurt or confuse him.

“I know. I’m….I’m sorry.”  
Your hands had balled into hard fists at this point, as you choked down the urge to cry – there had been more than enough of that today, and you were frankly sick of it. You almost felt raw, open to anything and everything; which was strange, considering after so much crying you would have expected quite the opposite.

Sans looked on, obviously conflicted; he could probably feel the surging emotions within you. Well, at least, you assumed he could. It wasn’t like you could feel every little feeling coming from him, after all – besides, you had no idea how this soulmate thing worked, not really.

“….I’ll be right back, y/n.”

He vanished, and you heard the subtle scuff of movement coming from upstairs; the small moment of being alone had your expression crumpling, as what you were about to do truly sunk in.

You could practically hear Gaster screaming at you to stop, to wait, but….

….you just couldn’t, not any-more. The truth would come out sooner or later anyway.

 

_He’s going to be so angry with you._

 

The tests were over and done with, and you already knew now that you had that connection to the Void that Gaster was searching for.

 

_He’ll hate you. He’ll hate you for this. They both will._

 

And you didn’t want to lie to Sans or anyone else.

No. No more of these….lies, these secrets. The suffering had gone on for long enough – now it was time to do something about it, and by gods, you were _determined_ to do something about it.

That said, you were more than terrified over how Sans would take it.

“...y/n?”

Your head jerks up, your fingers tangled in your hair – something you hadn’t even been aware of, considering the down-ward spiral of worry and thoughts you’d been previously trapped in. Slowly, you release the hard hold on your hair, your back straightening as you looked into Sans’ concerned eye-lights.

“….I’m ok. Uh. Do you have the key?”  
He nodded, his expression still just as conflicted as before – he held out his hand, the small, rather simple silver key in his palm, glinting faintly in the dulled light of the room.

“Right. Um…...so I guess we’d better get down there then, huh?”

“Did you wanna change first? I mean….you’ll probably be cold, y/n. No heating down there.”  
You wordlessly look down at yourself, still in your work uniform, before letting out a laugh – it was forced, you could hear how forced it was, but you couldn’t help it.

“Heh, probably should. I guess…..I won’t be-”  
Sans wordlessly held out a pair of your favourite jeans, his smile wonky with nerves.

“Thought on ahead – figured you’d need these.”  
The chuckle you released this time sounded a lot more genuine, your fingers brushing against his shyly as you took the material – but before you could walk away, he grabbed a hold of your wrist, jerking you into a hug; your breath left you in a surprised huff, your eyes wide as he held you to him tightly.   
“...look, I might not know what’s going on, but….I trust you, y/n. And I just….I just want you to know that.”

You had to gulp down yet more tears, fingers curling, your body barely being able to hug him back – how long would that trust last after he heard what you’d have to say?

….this was probably how he’d felt about the whole soulmate thing.

So, not being able to bring yourself to say anything in reply, you simply nod, pushing away from him with a forced smile as you wobbled your way over to the bathroom to change.  
Shutting the door, you simply stand against it for a few moments, calming your breathing, gritting your teeth.

  
  
_You can do this, y/n. Even if he hates you for it, at least he’ll finally know the truth. He’ll know that his father isn’t dead. It’s worth it. It’s….worth it._

 

Nodding to yourself, you simply concentrate on getting dressed, and getting dressed alone in a desperate effort to drown out your thoughts for just a few moments; you tug off your boots and socks, unzipping the skirt and sliding it down your legs, kicking the material off deftly. The jeans came next, fingers trembling as you tugged and pulled them up…..your hands joining your fingers in shaking as your socks were yanked back into place.

By the time you came to your boots, you were a quivering mess, your teeth chattering.  
But you could do this. No, you _had_ to do this. For Sans, Papyrus, Grillby…..and Gaster as well, whether he liked it or not.

It would be worth it in the end, you were sure of it. You had to be.

You opened up the bathroom door, starting slightly as you almost walked into Sans, who had been standing directly outside, his eye-lights practically boring into you. His hands automatically steadied your shaking form, planting themselves on your shoulders, his magic buzzing faintly against your skin despite the layers of clothing, as if trying to comfort you with touch alone.

You simply looked up at him, as mute as you had been previously, eyes wide as your teeth continued to chatter; his brow furrowed, mouth twisting into a frown.

“...you’re cold?”

You hurriedly shake your head, an awkward laugh escaping you at the question.

“N-no. Just…..n-nervous, I guess.”

His brow quirked at that, his usual inquisitive questioning mixing in with the turmoil already present, which only made you laugh even more, and just as awkwardly.

God, you really, really hated this situation.

“….l-let’s just….go.”

After a moment, he nodded, but he didn’t let go of you; for the barest of moments, you assumed it meant you were in for a teleport. But surprise rocked your body as one of his hands trailed down your arm, his fingers interlinking with yours.

You flush, completely caught off-guard by the simply intimacy, your eyes snapping from your conjoined hands to his face repeatedly as what he’d done completely sunk in. And he didn’t look much better, his face steadily becoming darker with his own blush. Letting out a gentle huff, he began to move, leaving you with no choice other than following him; of course, you could have simply let go of his hand, but….

….you didn’t want to.

It sounded ridiculous, but that small physical touch almost gave you the confidence you’d been lacking for what you were about to say – perhaps he knew that too, on some level. You grip just a touch tighter, some small part of you relishing in the simple sensation of it; not only the warming pressure surrounding your hand, but the very feel of his magic. True, you felt more than guilty gaining some sort of support from him in this situation – you didn’t deserve it, after all. But even with that, you couldn’t help the strange elation bubbling up from your soul.

He opened up the front door, leading you back into the icy cold, your feet crunching into the snow all around – and to your surprise, he began to lead you over to the postboxes (Papyrus’ was just as empty as it always was, Sans’ just as overstuffed). You allowed yourself to be tugged, looking around curiously as Sans brought you around the back of the house; and for an awful moment, you worry that this was just some sort of ploy, considering you couldn’t see a door anywhere.

That is, before Sans extended his hand holding the key, dragging it along the side of the house; it was almost as if it set off some sort of spark, a spark that sped along the surface of the wooden planks, travelling over to the far corner, webbing out into the familiar rectangular shape a door would have.

 

And right before your very eyes, the door seemed to rise out of the wood-work.

 

You can’t help the startled sound that escapes you as you watch it materialise, and from the subtle shake through Sans’ fingers, you had a feeling that under a far more normal circumstance, he would have laughed at your reaction.

“...even if only I have the key, can’t just have anyone knowing this is here.”

“But, uh…..how?”  
He turned, winking at you ever so slightly as he clicked the key home into the door, his amused smile a ghost of what it usually was.

“Magic.”

You let out an audible groan despite the tense mood, and his grin turned just a touch more genuine as a result.

“Ah, you might wanna be careful here – got some steps to go down.”

You gulp, considering the open door revealed nothing other than pitch black darkness; but Sans led you through, obviously knowing the way off by heart. Thankfully, he took it easy, allowing you to find your footing in the darkness, edging along until you found the edge of each step before stepping down, your eyes wide and searching as you did so.  
“...’kay. Got the light switch here, so you’d best close your eyes or something to prepare for that – read that humans can be sensitive to that kind of thing. Figured it’s the same for mages, heh.”

The tone of his voice is light, but you can tell from the aggravated humming echoing from his magic he was more than tense about the whole thing; and you could hardly blame him. You hum in agreement instead, closing your eyes obediently, wincing ever so slightly as he clicked on the switch, the light filtered in through your eye-lids. You wait, giving your body time to adjust, before slowly opening your eyes.

The room is…..surprisingly blank, but then, you don’t know what you expected. It was a lab, just as Gaster had described; Sans let go of your hand as you wandered inside, and for the briefest of moments you almost stumble, instantly missing that touch – but no, you had bigger things to concentrate on. You’d certainly gone through worse without Sans being by your side, and as nice as it was, you knew you had more strength than that.

The room is painted in a dulled turquoise, the paint itself sad and peeling in some places, the tiles beneath your feet an equally faded mauve. In the corner, an enormous mass was covered in a large number of dust sheets – and as it was more or less the only object in the room, you could only guess that that was the machine that you’d been expecting to see.

For the moment, however, you choose to ignore it, instead drifting over to the far wall, which contained a built in desk, the surface of which was set deep into the stone of the wall, covered with numerous papers, all coated with a thin layer of dust, obviously left more or less undisturbed for….at least a few months, you’d wager.

Your fingers ghost over the surface of a few – they all seemed to be various diagrams for different machines and experiments, notes scribbled onto the corners; a lot of it went completely over your head, but from what you could gather it was mostly soul study, or at least things relating to the subject.

You jump as Sans appears next to you, his own eye-lights glued to the papers in front of you, his expression strangely blank.

“….haven’t been down here in a long time.”

You hum slightly; from the general disrepair of the place, you could more than believe that. Your hands drifted down to the drawers below you, your eyes flicking up to Sans in silent question. He nods, eye-lights following every movement you made as you started to open up the drawers in front of you – true, you felt more than….a little intrusive doing so, but there wasn’t really anything you could do about it.

The first one contained a lot more papers with countless other notes and experiments scribbled upon them; but set just atop them was an identification badge. You pick it up gently, recognising Sans’ face on the front, along with his name – but what struck you was the job title.

 

‘ _Sans Serif – Top Tier Assistant’_

 

“...yeah, that was from when I….I used to work with my dad, at the lab.”

Your eyes travel over to him wordlessly while he continues, staring down at the badge in your hands, his expression still oddly blank, despite the obvious anxious sounds echoing from his soul.

“….just kinda….shoved it in a drawer and forgot about it after I quit.”

You bit your lip for a moment, placing the badge back carefully on the pile of papers it had been resting on previously.

“Why….why did you quit?”

“Just couldn’t do it any-more. Not after….not without him.”

...so that was why Alphys had been so surprised when Sans had suggested helping out with the studies on your soul when your tests had begun. He’d left that life behind after Gaster’s accident….which you still didn’t know the circumstances of, but that was yet another subject that would have to be breached soon enough.

You softly close the drawer, opening up the next; which revealed something almost too perfect for breaching the subject about Gaster.

A photo album.

You go to lift it out of the drawer, only to have one of Sans’ hands to fall upon your own, his expression pained.

“Y/n….c’mon, what’s this about? How did you even know about this place?”

You swallow audibly, looking up at him nervously as you slowly removed his hands, hefting the photo album up onto the counter – but just you were about to open it up, you notice a flap of paper sticking out the side. Brow puckering a touch, you pull it out, revealing what appeared to be a child’s drawing – but the subjects were unmistakable.

It was Sans, Papyrus, and Gaster, stood hugging one another, large, joyful smiles upon their faces; something that should have been sweet, but….

….given the faint tear stains littering the surface, and the far more adult writing of **‘don’t forget’** scribbled at top, it left you feeling bitter, and incredibly sad.

 

But it gave you what you needed. The photo album wouldn’t be necessary at the moment.

 

Slowly, you held the drawing up to Sans, heart racing as you tried your best to steady your nerves.

“It’s about this. I mean, not….not the drawing, but….it’s about your dad. Gaster.”

Sans’ sockets were wide with surprise, but his expression was more than confused, and understandably so.

“What….what do you mean?”

“...Sans, look, I know this is going to sound crazy, but….Gaster’s _not_ dead. In fact, I….I know him pretty well. And I know _where_ he is, too, but – I’m going to need your help to get him back here. That’s why we’re down here. Because that machine over there might be his only chance.”

 

...to say that Sans looked shocked was an understatement. His eye-lights shook in his sockets, flickering in and out of focus, his body shaking with them.

 

“Sans-”

“W-what…..I….I d-don’t..”

You reach out, planting your hands onto his shoulders, trying to resonate with him, as you’d always done when he’d been in this state, trying to tell him it would all be ok-

“ _No. Don’t.”_

He almost jerks away from you, walking away, pacing for a few moments, his posture akin to a caged animal – before looking back at you, his expression….so torn, so lost, it brings tears to the corners of your eyes involuntarily.

“….y-you know what you’re saying, right? How the fuck am I supposed…..”

“...I know how it sounds. But Sans, I mean it – he’s not dead! He told me about this place, told me about the machine – hell, he even told me about the tests we should do on my soul, and about which book I should look in-”

Sans holds up a hand, cutting your words off into tense silence as he simply breathes, sockets closed, before he looked furiously back at you, eye-lights almost burning in his sockets.

“Where is he, then? If not dead…..then _where_ , y/n?”

Your hands tighten, your frown deepening. But you couldn’t back down. Not now.

“...he’s in the Void, Sans. But-”

“…. **no**. _Nononononono_ , that’s impossible-”

He was panicking, even more so than before; his hands had risen to his face at your words, fingers scratching, his eye-lights completely extinguished, his teeth gritting into a snarl, body crouched in a way that suggested he just wanted to….curl up.

And suddenly, your soul was almost screaming; the pain that tore through you was agonising, a sharp yelp escaping you, your body almost mirroring his.

“Sans, please, he’s….he’s ok, we can get to him-”

 

Sans vanished, leaving you alone in the lab, with the only thing keeping you company being your soul, which felt like it was trying to rip itself out of your body.

 

You wince, your swears echoing around the empty room as you clutch your chest, almost falling to your knees with the sheer _pain._

You’d known this wouldn’t be….a good subject, but you’d honestly hoped that it would….go a little better than that.

You huff, barely able to straighten yourself, but you knew what you had to do; his soul was calling yours, whether he wanted to see you or not, and _hell_ , you weren’t going to give up, not after all of this.

Hissing out a pained breath, you stagger your way to the staircase, shutting the door behind you as you exit out into the snow; it vanishes back into the wall of the house, and you inwardly bless the fact that Sans could teleport, as you doubt he had the key on his person when he vanished.

You almost scream as your soul gives a particularly violent tug; it had never…..hurt this much, and it made you feel sick knowing that you were the cause, that you were doing this to him-

 

-you had to fix this. Tell him you knew what to do, tell him it wasn’t the end, that there was _hope._

 

You lurch forward, feet already following the path your soul was directing them in; through the snow, into the tree-line. The snow is particularly thick in this area, up past your boots, the icy wetness soaking into the material of your jeans; but you didn’t so much as wince. That icy numbness was practically bliss in comparison to the pain your soul was emitting – your intercostal muscles were tensing and twitching in reflex, your vision going white at the edges.

But regardless, you kept going. You had to. He needed you.

Pointlessly, you tried to send over sweet images of comfort, over and over; each time being bounced back by the wall of screaming pain and terror that was currently Sans.

 

_He’s gone. He’s gone. No-one can come back from that. I’ve lost him all over again._

 

“...god...dammit Sans….. _let me in!_ ”

Your words come out as a snarl, your teeth chattering as your body attempts to warm itself in the freezing temperatures – even with your jacket, it didn’t seem to matter; the nights always were the worst in Snowdin in regards to temperature.

As a last resort, you send over an image of Gaster himself, laughing at one of the jokes you’d made at the time-

 

-and you felt him freeze.

 

It was only for a moment, but a moment was all you needed.

 

_Gaster patting your head with his gentle smile._

 

_Gaster talking about Sans and Papyrus, a fond expression on his features._

 

_Gaster reminiscing about Grillby._

 

_Gaster becoming animated and excited as he spoke about science._

 

_Gaster teasing you as-_

 

Your concentration breaks abruptly as you fall face-first into the snow with a pained grunt, the freezing, and surprisingly dense texture almost blistering against your skin, your soul screaming out in protest at your sudden stop.

You try to roll over, try to bring your knees up to push yourself back into standing-

 

-only to find that you’re unable to.

 

“Hehe, well, howdy there y/n! Fancy seeing you in the woods _alone_ at this time of night.”

Your eyes widen, mind going blank as you realised how _familiar_ that voice was, and not familiar in a good sense. Not good at all.

“ _Flowey._ ”

You hear him giggle, just before he pops up directly in front of you, cheerful emoji smile in place.

“Golly, you don’t look very happy to see me!”

You struggle, wincing as you feel the thorns on his vines stabbing into the meat of your legs, holding you solidly to the icy snow – you could already feel your skin becoming sticky with blood.

“Let me go!”

“Oh, did you have somewhere to be? But it’s been _so_ long, y/n. Don’t cha wanna catch up with lil’ old me?”

His cute smile soon twists into something dark and almost demonic, his manic laughter ringing out around the silent woodland, making you wince.

“After all, soooo much has happened to you since you left the Ruins, hasn’t it, y/n? You’ve made so many friends….made so many _discoveries_ ….especially recently, huh?”

 

He knew. He knew about Sans being your soulmate, that smile said it all.

 

“….Flowey, look, please, just let me go. This is pointless-”

“Oh no! No, it’s not. You see, I’ve not had this much fun in _years._ ”

He giggles, his button eyes becoming almost….crazed as they looked at you.

“You’re so much more fun, y/n! So new! I was getting so bored, seeing the same thing over and over – but now you’re _alone._ You slipped up! Oopsie!”

Your blood was steadily turning cold at his words, and that had nothing to do with the freezing snow you were lying upon.

 

….he sounded….insane. Nothing he said made any sense.

 

“ _Let me go._ ”

“Oooh, I’m so sorry, y/n! Of course I’ll let you go!”

His expression slowly twisted into a terrifying snarl, his giggling reverberating sickeningly.

“Not! Heh, idiot, why would I let you go? You’re just….here! Alone! It was too perfect a chance to miss.”

He leaned a little closer to you – and before you even realised what was about to happen, a pained grunt leaves you as two of his vines shoot straight through the flesh of your thighs.

“This is too good a chance to finally get back at that smiley trash-bag! Do you know what happens when someone’s soulmate dies, y/n?”

A shrill scream erupts out your lips as vines spear your shoulders and forearms.

“The other person feels it! Most of the time, it kills them as well! Neat, huh?”

Another two vines shoot through your hands, shattering the fragile bones there as they did.

“So Sans is probably feeling all of this as we speak! Which, you know, is _perfect_ , considering the amount of times he’s killed me with those blaster thingys. They really hurt, y’know? Maybe just as much as this, you never know!”

You can’t even bring yourself to scream as another shoots through your abdomen, your breath simply leaving you in a surprised huff, eyes wide with shock.

“Oooh, that really _does_ hurt, doesn’t it? It’s so funny when human’s eyes go blank like that! Wowie, it’s been so long since-”

 

“ _ **Y/n!!”**_

 

A shrill howl comes from you as you feel yet another spiked vine spear you-

 

-right through your chest.

 

“Ooopsie, well, y/n, it’s been so fun seeing you again! I guess we’ll have to play again next reset!”

His face seems to form an amused pout as he vanishes back into the ground, the vines previously spearing you ripping out of your flesh as he did so; a soft whine of pain leaves you, though you’re barely aware of it.

The snow suddenly felt so….comfortable. Your head was spinning so much, you just wanted to lay it down and-

“Y/n, no, nononono, sweetheart, please, don’t, _please_ -”

Oh. When did you close your eyes?

But it was ok.

Sans was here, Sans was holding you to him; but no, he was…..he was crying, the warmth of the tears falling softly onto your frozen cheeks.

“ _Please, no, please, don’t leave me!”_

But you were right here.

You weren’t going anywhere.

You still had so much to tell him, you needed to help get Gaster free, you needed to tell him how much you _loved_ him-

 

-but you just needed a little rest first.

That was ok, right? It wouldn’t be for long.

You felt….so tired. So heavy.

 

Sans’ heart-wrenching sobs fill the air as your vision slowly fades to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .....well. Guess Flowey's been stalking.  >.>
> 
> Also, holy crap, just needed to share this gorgeous stuff! The lovely Maya gave life to our mysterious Void dragon - yup, she's also given him a name, but I'm still undecided on that.....but damn, she's got his look down so perfectly! >.<
> 
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/182056032126/hello-i-have-given-a-form-to-the-dragon-creature  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/post/182083613306/hello-again-im-glad-you-liked-tartarus-ive
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	70. Repudiate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sans deals with the aftermath....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

Sans couldn’t help the screaming, inhuman cries that erupted from him when he saw y/n close her eyes, the sweet thrum of her soul steadily growing weaker despite his own screaming, begging for her not to give up, as her red, red blood stained the snow around her.

 

Stained his clothing as he held her form close to his.

 

He was only shoved back into movement when she let out a hacking cough, blood now staining her pale lips along with everything else.

He’d teleported before he’d even realised it, holding her body closer still as he pulled hard on the Void magic sticking like tar to his soul; it all but yanked his body and hers through the tear he’d created, leaving him to stumble as he arrived in their home.

 

Her home.

 

“ _ **PAPYRUS! PAPYRUS, PLEASE, PLEASE, COME HERE!”**_

And miraculously, Papyrus’ door flew open with a loud thud, Sans’ brother standing still for but a moment as he took in the scene, sockets wide – before he actually jumped from the mezzanine level, landing next to Sans, his expression equally panicked.

“Quickly, put her on the couch, I must heal her immediately!”

Sans could only nod, his exhales still coming out as hiccuping sobs as he softly laid her body out on the couch – she suddenly looked so small, so….. _fragile_ , her skin almost chalky, her lips a strange bluish white, her breathing….odd, almost as if it was rattling around inside her chest.

Sans might have only read a few books on humans and their bodies, but he knew that couldn’t be good.

 

He’d seen that look one too many a time, after all.

 

“Papyrus, p-please, she’s dying, _she’s_ _dying_ -”

Papyrus uncharacteristically shushed him, sockets narrowed, hands shaking as he held them over where y/n’s soul lay, the green healing magic sputtering in and out of focus as he tried to concentrate.  
“Sans, brother – you too!”  
“...wha-”  
“Heal her as well! She needs both of us right now!”  
Gulping, Sans looked down at her, then down at his own blood-stained, numb hands-  
  
_-blood-stained,_ _numb_ _hands, the body of the kid, crumpled like old paper at his feet-_  
  
“SANS! Brother, please, I k-know…...I know it’s hard, but we need to save her! I….I don’t...”  
Papyrus swallowed, closing his sockets for a moment, before opening them up with a renewed energy, blazing orange magic flaring in his right socket as the green magic around his hands finally solidified, sinking into y/n’s heaving sternum.  
“I’m _not_ going to lose her. Help me, Sans.”

Sans’ voice came out in a cracked whisper, fingers clenching as he looked at the numerous gaping wounds on y/n’s body, wounds he knew Papyrus wouldn’t have enough magic to heal alone-  
“I...Pap….y’know I’m not-”  
“Brother, it doesn’t matter to me if you do it well – and at this point, it won’t matter to y/n, either. We just….we just need her to recover!”

Sans’ eye-lights drifted over to where y/n’s soul lay, her hazy stats flickering before him.

**Y/N. HP: 0.** **1** **/2. SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP.**

He stops breathing for a moment – before gritting his teeth. That 0.1 was better than nothing, and as long as she was still clinging on, gods, he was going to fight for her.  
Gently, he picked up one of her mangled hands, summoning every inch of his magic to the act of healing – and gradually, the weak light of his own healing magic joined the blazing light that was his brother’s.  
“...don’t worry sweetheart….we….we’ve gotcha….”  


~

 

_Everything was so….dark._

_Some deep part of you knew what that meant, but…._

 

_...everything was just so vague. Hazy._

 

_You weren’t even sure why you were so concentrated on thinking about what the darkness meant. Surely it would be far more sensible to just….forget about it?_

_That sounded easier. To just forget, to just lie in the endless darkness, to just-_

“ ~~ _ **Y/N!”**_~~

_You wince; static didn’t usually come with this darkness, did it? You didn’t think that it did._

~~“ _ **PLEASE Y/N, PLEASE! DON’T GIVE UP!”**_~~

_Shouldn’t it be peaceful? That static hurt, dammit._

~~“ _ **PLEASE, MY DEAR, PLEASE! NOT WHEN WE NEED YOU MOST!”**_~~

_You try to move, only to find that you can’t. Irritated, you frown – well, you think you do. Why couldn’t you feel that? If you could hear, why couldn’t you-_

 

_-and it all came back to you in a flash._

 

_Falling to the Underground after quitting your life in the city for a life on the mountain._ _Encountering Flowey, being rescued. Meeting T_ _oriel, and all the monsters in the Ruins, living_ _among_ _them and loving every moment of it._ _Finding out about the abnormality that was your soul. Meeting Sans and Papyrus, seeing Snowdin, meeting Alphys, Grillby, Mettaton, Undyne-_

 

_-telling Sans about Gaster. Running through the woods._

_The pain, Flowey’s demonic laughter._

 

_Yes, it was all there. But why couldn’t you_ _**move?** _

 

~~“ _ **DON’T GIVE UP!”**_~~

_That static again – was that Gaster? But you could usually understand him; this was almost like the first time you’d met him, all over again._

~~“ _ **PLEASE!”**_~~

_At last, you feel some movement, something that reminded your body that it_ _**existed** _ _– you winced. Honestly, as much as you loved Gaster and his persistence (as you highly doubted you would have got to this point without him), the sound of that static was starting to give you a major headache._

_With that first wince, you began to force yourself to blink rapidly, to scrunch the muscles of your face – and when you succeeded at that, you moved onto twitching your fingers, your toes-_

~~“ _ **Yes, that’s it my dear, you can do it!”**_~~

_You open your mouth reflexively, letting out a noise of complaint – only to wince once again as the sound of garbled static filled your ears._

_But it only seemed to encourage Gaster, and you soon became aware of his hands shaking your shoulders, and shaking them hard; you supposed he must have been doing so the entire time without you being aware._

_The very idea of being so unaware of everything around you made you shiver._

_But what scared you the most was that you still couldn’t see, despite knowing that your eyes were open – well, they felt open, anyway._

~~“ _ **I can’t see! I can’t…..see!”**_~~

_ You felt a palm on your cheek, a thumb brushing against your skin in a comforting, repetitive motion.  _ _ It would be ok. Everything would be ok. You just had to keep pushing against that darkness, had to keep refusing to give in- _

 

_-when Gaster’s face finally started to fade into view, it was such a relief it left you gasping, tears rising to your eyes; he smiled encouragingly, still gently stroking your cheek, his own relief at finally seeing some recognition in your eyes more than palpable._

 

~~ “ _That’s right,_ ~~ _y/n. Come back.”_

“ _I can understand you again!”_

_He blinked, confusion ruling his features as you laughed almost hysterically, tears rolling down your cheeks._

“ _You couldn’t before?”_

“ _No, heh – actually, it kind of helped. Hearing constant static can be pretty distracting.”_

_He huffed slightly, looking you over with narrowed, worried sockets as you ‘sat up’ - or rather, considering you were in the Void, floated to an upright position._

“ _...please, y/n, take it easy. Your body and soul have….been through quite a lot.”_

_You couldn’t help but shiver, arms automatically hugging your sides to give yourself some sort of comfort._

“ _I….did I….die?”_

_Gaster shook his head after a moment, his gaze serious – but despite that, he reached out, patting your head gently._

“ _No, my dear. But you came very, very close. As we speak, both my sons are repairing your body….and doing a more than fine job, considering you were able to….wake up.”_

_You frowned, hands digging into your sides just a touch harder._

“… _.so….s-so if...”_

_Gaster didn’t answer the obvious question hanging in the air, merely sighing gently._

“ _...you are going to be alright, my dear. Just….just concentrate on being here, yes? Keep talking to me. Do not give up – no, **refuse** to give up.”_

_You nodded without hesitation – the thought of giving up hadn’t even occurred to you._

“ _I wouldn’t dream of it – no way in hell am I leaving you all now, especially not when so much needs to be done. Flowey….won’t get his way. I mean, that’s what he wanted, right? To kill me?”_

_Gaster winced at that, eye-lights shifting away._

_Oh. Oh no, you knew that look all too well._

“ _What aren’t you telling me?”_

_Gaster just about managed to look back at you, his expression conflicted._

“ _I….y/n, you must understand….this ‘Flowey’ character….you must never trust him. Never. The goals he seek are not….”_

“ _Please, Gaster. Just….just answer me. What did he want? To kill me? Is that what he wanted?”_

_After a long moment of tense silence, he shook his head slowly._

“… _.in a way, I suppose he did. But what he was really trying to achieve was something called a ‘reset’”_

_You blink in mute confusion, before you remember Flowey’s parting words._

“… _.yeah, he said that he’d play with me next reset. But what does that mean?”_

_The only thing that came to mind was resetting your old computer at work whenever it got faulty, just….turning it off then back on again._

_Gaster let out a heavy sigh, pinching his nasal bridge for a moment._

“… _.my dear, you’re familiar with….time travel and the like, are you not?”_

 

_The silence stretched as you simply stared at him, long and hard._

 

“… _.yeah, I am. Are you suggesting what I think you are? That this reset thing is….time travel of some sort? I mean….”_

_Gaster held up a hand, stopping the stream of confused words currently exiting you._

“ _My dear, this is….a complicated thing to explain, but….do you remember what Undyne told you about soul traits? About what her main trait of kindness allows her to accomplish?”_

“ _Uh….yeah, sure? It lets her make shields, and it’s related to healing magic? But what does-”_

“ _Every soul trait is the same in the sense it grants a being a particular ability, or should I say, a particularly strong personality trait when it comes to humans. Now. I believe you also know a little about a particular trait….determination?”_

_It took you a moment to think about it, before you nodded._

“ _Uh, yeah. Something about monsters having next to nothing of it? Which is, uh, pretty impossible to imagine, considering Papyrus and Undyne-”_

“ _But I’m afraid it’s quite true. Humans seem to possess it in high quantities, as I’m sure you remember. Now….think on this. Say someone was….nothing but determination. What do you think they would be able to accomplish?”_

_You scoff a little at the implication, brows raising._

“ _Are you seriously saying that if someone were determined enough, they’d be able to control time?”_

_His gaze is nothing but serious as he looks at you, nodding his head._

“ _Yes. That and more.”_

_At first, you laugh; you can’t help it, it was just such…..a ridiculous thing to think about. It almost sounded like those fairy tales you heard as a child - ‘anything’s possible if you just believe!’._

_But then, the laughter subsided. After all, monsters were real, something you’d never thought of as possible previously. And you knew that Gaster wouldn’t joke about something like this._

“… _.how? How is that possible?”_

“… _.I believe that Alphys would be able to answer that question a little more thoroughly than I, but….well, the only occurrences I’ve come across are when a being’s soul is all but completely composed of the trait. And Flowey….is one of those instances. However, he has lost that ability to another, someone with a higher concentration of determination.”_

_You grumbled, a hand travelling up your face to tangle in your hair – all this information was making your head spin._

“… _.so there’s….someone else who is so determined they can control time. And only one person can do it at once?”_

“ _Indeed. Whoever has the highest concentration in the Underground.”_

“ _Wait, so this only works down here? Why?”_

“ _I presume it’s something to do with the high concentrations of magic given off by both the Core and the Barrier. But that’s only a theory.”_

“ _So if it’s not Flowey….who has the highest amount? And wait, he’s a monster, right? How does he have that much-”_

“ _As I said earlier, Alphys would answer that particular question far better than I. But as for who has the highest amount? Well, it seems that Flowey assumes that person is you, y/n.”_

_After a short pause, you scoff, rolling your eyes._

“ _I think I’d know if I could do something like that. I mean, jeez-”_

“ _But that’s precisely the matter, y/n – how could you know about such a thing unless given a firm reason for trying to grasp such an ability?”_

_You freeze, gulping as you thought it over._

“… _.like dying. If I didn’t want to die, I’d….have to turn back time.”_

_Gaster nodded, letting out a long sigh._

“ _But why would Flowey want me to turn back time anyway?”_

“… _.I assume it is because he is bored. When he had the ability himself, well….it was nothing but a game to him, an endless cycle that he could play with as he pleased.”_

_His gaze grew stern as he looked upon you._

“ _...and the same could be said for the other being that possessed the ability. I would say it’s a classic case of ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’, but….well.”_

_You shake your head, hand tightening in your hair a touch more. Oh, oh no, you did not like this idea one little bit; it was bad enough when the scan of your ATK level came back odd, or when the concept of you being a mage first came to light – but being able to control time?_

_No. No, you didn’t want that._

“ _...I….I don’t-”_

“ _I know. It is something that is almost impossible to fully understand with words alone. No, I….y/n, I know this is….asking something difficult of you, and my son, yet again, but….please, ask Sans to **show** you what happens when someone goes mad with the power of resetting.”_

_You gulp, looking down with shame – so Gaster had been watching the conversation that you’d had with Sans after all._

“ _...I’m so sorry that I told him like that-”_

“ _No, do not be. It was never going to be easy, y/n – you did all that you could, my dear.”_

_You feel your eyes filling with tears as you bite down on your lip._

“… _.I just hope that he’s ok. I just….I just want to tell him that everything’s going to be alright, y’know?”_

 

_~_

 

Sans lets out a pained huff, magic sputtering in his socket as he tried to concentrate harder, to spend more of his reserves – but sweat was rolling down his temple at this point, he knew he wouldn’t be able to-

“Brother! We….we must….continue! Stay strong, we’re…..so close to….h-healing her, I can feel it!”

Sure, at the start of this process, the healing had done next to nothing, almost as if her body was rejecting it; it had only been in the last half hour that he’d noticed an improvement in the wounds, but….he wasn’t sure how that would translate to her HP levels. Wearily, Sans looked up at her HP, eye-lights wavering in his sockets, not daring to hope that-

 

**Y/N. HP: 1.5/2. ALL SHE WANTS IS FOR YOU TO BE OK.**

 

He blinked back tears, letting out a haggard gasp at the message.

 

_Of course. Of course she’d be thinking of how I was right now, of all things. I….I really don’t deserve someone like her._

 

“Sans?”

“She’s….heh, bro, she’s….”

Sans looked down upon her, her usual soft colour flooding her cheeks once more, her breathing easy, the wounds nothing but pink marks upon her skin – and he knew that with just a little more healing, those would vanish as well.

Of course, she was still covered with blood, but….that would wash off, right?

“She’s….you’re right Pap, she’s gonna….be ok.”

Papyrus, who had been forcing his magic for the longest of times, finally sat back on his heels with an exhausted huff, body sagging as he let out a relieved, shaky sigh.

“T-thank….goodness…..”

Papyrus took up yet another bottle of liquid magic from the floor, draining it in a few gulps, quickly throwing it onto the growing pile of empties next to him; such mess wasn’t in his nature, but his mind had been on far more important matters. Wordlessly, he handed one to Sans, raising his brow-bones meaningfully.

“I know that it….isn’t the most pleasant of things to consume raw, but I believe that you need it just as much as I do, brother.”

Sans wrinkled his nasal bridge at the bottle, but took it out of Papyrus’ hands regardless, unscrewing the cap and downing it in a similar fashion – it burned like acid all the way down, flashing painfully through his limbs as his magic reserves were forced back up to full.

He once again felt a strong sense of admiration for his brother; after all, he’d forced down so many of these already, all for y/n’s sake.

“Pap….just….thank you so much. If it wasn’t for you, y/n would be-”

Papyrus simply plopped a hand heavily on the top of Sans’ head, rubbing deftly as he smiled his usual bright smile.

“But she isn’t, is she? She’s quite alright! And it wasn’t just me – you helped her as well! We did this together, Sans.”

Sans sniffed, chuckling under his breath; before looking over to y/n, worry slowly leaking back into his expression.

“Why….why isn’t she waking up? Her HP level should be enough for that now….”

Papyrus hummed, his brow creasing into a similar worried expression.

“Perhaps….she is simply tired? Injuries like that would put a great strain on her soul, after all….”

If Sans had the ability to go pale, he would have; after all, he remembered the pain of y/n’s soul cracking, and the pain that had rocketed through him when she’d been attacked….

 

….that could be more than enough to damage her soul, yes.

 

“….m’such a fucking idiot, Paps.”

“No, Sans, you’re most certainly not!”

Papyrus didn’t bother to correct his brother’s language, even if he was tempted to do so – no, he would allow it in such a situation.

“But I am. Papyrus, I could feel her getting hurt, I could feel her soul calling out to me for help – but because I….”

Sans gripped the front of his bloodstained t-shirt, eye-lights wavering. He’d been panicking so much at the time from the news about his father, he hadn’t been thinking straight; the pulls that should have sent him running to her only spiralled him into more panic – and by the time he’d gained some sense of self….

“….Sans. What...what happened out there? How did y/n get to be in such a state?”

Sans’ body instantly froze up at the question, leaving Papyrus to sigh; after all, he knew that expression all too well.

“If you….if you do not wish to talk about it, that’s alright. I understand. After all, it’s…..recent. It can wait, you don’t have to force yourself.”

Papyrus looked back at y/n’s now peaceful form, his mind filled with worry – yet it was piecing the clues together, as it always did. Sans wasn’t there when y/n was attacked, clearly; and blamed himself for not getting there soon enough, which meant that he was caught up in something else, something he didn’t want to touch upon. Then there was the puzzle of who did this to y/n in the first place – he couldn’t think of anyone who had magic attacks that could produce wounds like that.

 

Whoever they were, he wanted to have a serious talk with them. And perhaps show them what his special attack looked like, but that would depend on if they were willing to listen to reason.

 

Sans squirmed a little closer to y/n, slowly reaching out to her face – before flinching, withdrawing his hand as he remembered how bloodstained they were. He watched his fingers clench and shake, his body tensing; how weak was he, letting the past effect him like this. He couldn’t go back and change it; heh, no, _that_ was out of his control. And even if he could, he’d still remember, wouldn’t he? He’d still have those stains on his hands, no matter wha-

“Sans?”

Sans blinked, turning to see that Papyrus had left the room at some point, and returned with a bowl of warm water, and a wash cloth.

“I...I thought it might be a good idea to get some of this….I know that we can’t do much for her clothing, but we can perhaps clean some of this stuff off her face, no? And as an added plus, we’ll be able to clean our hands at the same time!”

Sans snorted a little; his brother’s unsubtly was such a blessing sometimes.

“Heh, thanks Pap – I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

He dunked his hands into the water, dully watching as the once clear fluid turned a dusty pink as the blood finally relinquished its hold on him. The water only turned darker as Papyrus followed his brother’s example, before he quickly got up, fetching a clean bowl, handing it to Sans with a bright smile. Sans just about managed to summon a rather wobbly one to his features, but it was a smile all the same; carefully, he positioned the bowl next to the couch, dampening the cloth and gently wiping at the blood that still lingered on y/n’s face…her hands. The other previous wounds were buried underneath her clothing, and he wouldn’t dare disrespect her privacy like that.

Now that his hands were clean, he had a little more confidence in his actions; he reached over, gently stroking her cheek, eye-lights carefully taking in her features.

“….even if she’s tired, she should have woken up with the amount of healing magic we had to use.”

“You could always try to call to her. I’m sure she’d listen if you did!”

After a moment of thinking it over, Sans nodded warily. It was something he’d wanted to do from the start, in all honesty – for his soul to scream at hers to wake up, to fight, to come back-

-but after the last time, when she’d simply closed her eyes and faded from his senses, he’d been afraid to try again.

But she was better now, right? She….she wasn’t going to die any-more. He could feel her soul, hear it singing as sweetly as it usually did. So she’d answer him. She had to.

Pressing his forehead lightly to hers, and squeezing onto one of her hands, his sockets closed in concentration; it was the only way he _could_ concentrate, in all honesty – he was still shaking just as much as when he’d initially found her, and he supposed that he would be for quite a while.

Slowly, tentatively, he sent over how much he wanted her to wake up, how much he missed her.

 

Nothing.

 

The same thing, a little more forcefully.

 

Not even a flicker.

 

Panicking now, sucking in gasping breaths, his soul all but screamed it at her, _come back, please wake up, please-_

 

“P-Paps, she’s not….. _help!_ She’s not responding to me!”

Sans felt his brother’s hand settle on his quivering shoulder.

“Sans, brother, I’m sure it’ll-”

“No! Paps, look….I’m gonna need your help again. Can you….can you try, as well? Just….j-just tell her how much w-we need her to wake up?”

Sans knew that he was getting his tears on poor y/n’s face, but he just….couldn’t bring himself to let go of her. Not yet. No, she needed to wake up first.

After a long moment, Papyrus sighed, before reaching over and grasping y/n’s other hand.

“….all right, Sans. All right.”

And even though Papyrus could feel his exhaustion eating away at his bones, he focused on the sing-song quality of y/n’s soul, sending across his own messages along with his brother’s.

 

“ _Please come back to me, sweetheart.”_

 

“ _Please wake up, sister!”_

 

“ _I can’t lose you – there’s still so much I need to tell you.”_

 

“ _I’m sure that you can do it, if you just try hard enough!”_

 

“ _You’re strong, y/n, so much stronger than I am. Please open your eyes.”_

 

“ _I believe in you! We both do!”_

 

“ _ **Wake up, y/n.”**_

 

~

 

“… _.I believe that he is alright, my dear. Though he is obviously worried about you.”_

“ _...y-yeah, I can more than understand that.”_

_You take a shaky breath, rubbing your arms, before looking over at Gaster curiously._

“ _How….how can you see it all? I mean, all I see here is darkness?”_

_His smile is slightly sad, his sigh weary._

“ _You’d be surprised what an extended stay here can reveal. Although the Void is another plane of existence, it is strangely…...fluid. Some parts of it are what you would describe as ‘thin’ - not breakable, sadly, but thin enough for me…..ah, I apologise, this is quite difficult to describe to someone who’s never used magic before. Hmm.”_

_He thinks on it for a moment, before nodding to himself._

“ _Have you ever been blind-folded before, y/n? Or perhaps you’ve worn something to prevent hearing?”_

“… _.so what you’re saying is that while you can see things, maybe you can’t….hear them?”_

“ _Exactly. See, for monsters…..sight, hearing, smell, all those senses are almost secondary. What we depend on is our magic, and the ability of sensing it – something which I cannot do here. Without that ability, I cannot...”_

_His fists clench, his expression ironing out with a forced control._

“ _...I cannot contact anyone on the outside, cannot let them know of my whereabouts, as you already know. But….I can see them. Can hear them, see their lives, see….”_

_He shudders slightly, shaking his head while you watch on worriedly._

“ _I am not entirely sure how it’s possible, but….my only theory is that it has something to do with exposure over a great length of time, and the Void magic already present in my soul.”_

“ _Gaster….we’re going to get you out of here. I’m sure of it.”_

_He hums, his sockets still incredibly sad; before he shakes his head, his expression suddenly business-like._

“ _Y/n. If….if we do plan to go through with this idea….do you remember what I said? About my soul?”_

_You nod, wincing slightly; little bits of Gaster just lying around still creeped the hell out of you, in all honesty._

“ _Well, in order to find all the pieces, you will need to know what to look for – would you attempt to sense my soul? I am not sure how it will go, considering all the factors, but….”_

_Without answering him, you instantly try what he’d suggested – before wincing._

“ _Ah, fuc-fudge, ouch!”_

_Gaster blinked, clearly confused over your phrasing; but before he could even question what the sweet confection had anything to do with the subject, you winced again._

“ _What is it, my dear?”_

“ _Every….every time I try to sense you, all I get is this….really high-pitched noise? You know, almost like white noise?”_

_Gaster sighed, the look of utter defeat on his face more than palpable._

“ _I….was afraid of that. Perhaps my soul is simply too broken after all...”_

“ _ **No!”**_

_He jumps, sockets widening at your sudden shout._

“ _No. No, don’t you get it, this is perfect!”_

_His expression soon soured at that._

“ _How is anything about this perfect?”_

“ _No, I….uh, I mean – shoot, I didn’t mean it like that. I mean in the sense that it’ll be easier to find the pieces this way, right? All I have to do it look for something that’s like white noise!”_

_Gaster huffed slightly, his mood still clearly bitter at the prospect._

“ _My dear, if you think it’s a painful sensation here, it will be agonising in our world – you’re forgetting, your true body isn’t here. To ask something like that of you-”_

“ _I’m more than happy to go through that pain if it means you getting out, Gaster.”_

_After a long, hard silence, he lets out another sigh, his expression settling into a rueful smile._

“… _.you and my family are just as bad as one another, you know? Far too kind for your own good.”_

_You merely smirk at that._

“ _Seems like a pretty good quality to have, if you ask me – this world needs as much kindness as it can get.”_

_For a moment, he simply smiled back at you, before his expression fell into immediate concern as you yelped, clutching your chest._

“ _Y/n?! My dear, what’s-”_

“ _I’m….Sans is….n-no, wait-”_

_Your brow puckers; this wasn’t just the normal tugging you usually felt. Yes, it was still your soul painfully yanking you into one particular direction, but….it was somehow…._

_Tears came to your eyes without your knowing why as you managed to summon another smile at Gaster._

“ _I’m….being called back.”_

_After a sigh of relief, he smiled softly back, gently patting your head._

“ _Then you know what you must do, y/n. Go back to them. And….I shall see you soon.”_

_You barely get a chance to nod before you’re sent skyrocketing back into consciousness._

 

_~_

 

“Please, p-please, y/n….”

Sans still had his forehead pressed softly to y/n’s, tears dribbling down his cheeks and falling onto her own – but he was beyond caring at this point. Hell, he’d relish in her waking up to complain at him for it; though some part of him knew that, of course, she’d never complain at him for something like that. No, she’d look at him in that way she always did….the way that made him feel as if he wasn’t quite as bad as he always thought himself to be.

Papyrus was simply quiet, still concentrating hard, sockets squeezed shut. The only movements he made were silently mouthing the words he desperately sent across to y/n; endless words of encouragement, of hopes for the future – all the recipes they’d be able to create, all the training he could give her to prevent something like this from happening again. Yes, so much hope – all she had to do was wake up.

As a matter of fact, they were both so concentrated that they didn’t notice one of y/n’s legs twitch ever so slightly.

But Sans did notice when she frowned; he felt her forehead move against his own, his sockets flying open in astonishment as a result.

 

And slowly, _slowly_ , your eyes fluttered open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .....so, that was my longest chapter to date o.o   
>  But yus! :3 Stuff! Lots of stuff! >.<
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, were we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	71. Osculation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you finally wake up....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday :D  
> (extra long chapter this week - just a warning! ;p)

With an almost agonising slowness you feel your body finally rouse itself into consciousness, your eyes fluttering open – your almost foggy vision slowly slides into focus, which is when you finally noticed that Sans was softly pressing his forehead to yours, his eye-lights gradually growing wider as he noticed you were, at last, awake.

He suddenly let out a loud gasp, lifting your upper body up against his into the warmest of embraces; you let out a gentle noise of surprise and complaint, given that your head was spinning ever so slightly – and you had _just_ enough time to register Papyrus hurtling towards the both of you, his arms held wide open, his smile brighter than you’d ever seen it.

And all of a sudden, you were all laughing (no doubt hysterically), hugging each-other tight; well, as tight as you could manage, considering the fact that you still felt oddly dizzy – it was wasn’t exactly unpleasant, just a little disconcerting. Almost as if you were floating, despite knowing that you most certainly were not.

“Sister! You’re alright!”

“Heh, yeah, I’m ok-”

“Ah, crap, uh, you should still be lying down-”

And like a bolt out of the blue, you were back on the couch, blinking ever so slightly as Sans pressed a hand to your forehead, brow creased with worry.  
“…..you’re still too pale. 0.5 points off…..hey, y/n, you feel like eating?”

“Uh...”

You had to think on it for a long moment, humming in the back of your throat as you considered the idea of food; as floaty as you felt, you had to admit it wasn’t the most appealing of ideas.

But if you were still lacking in HP…..

“Well….not really, if I’m honest. But hey, uh….maybe now would be a good time to break out those nice-creams, eh?”  
Sans, who had still had the same look of concern on his features until you mentioned actually eating something, breathed a soft sigh of relief, smile twitching upward as his expression became warm.  
“Yeah, sounds good to me.”  
“But surely spaghetti would be a far better alternative! True, it will bring your HP back up to full, but nice-cream is hardly healthy-”  
“But bro, she’s never had it before!”

That made Papyrus freeze, obviously thinking that little tit-bit of information over carefully, weighing up the pros and cons with a thoughtful hum.

“….very well. But! I must insist that tomorrow…..wait, later today…..that you consume a far more nutritional meal, sister!”

You giggled softly, nodding your head with a smile.

“Sure, more than happy to, Paps. And….thank you. Both of you. Thank you so much.”

You hadn’t noticed the tears rising to your eyes as you spoke, but as they dribbled down your cheeks, you did nothing to stop them – after all, these weren’t tears of sadness; no, you were just….

…..unspeakably thankful.

So thankful to be awake, and back with them in this place that had become your home.

Sans made the softest noise of complaint, seeming to reach out without thought to wipe the tears from your cheeks; you blush hard, but it doesn’t seem to faze him all that much (as a matter of fact, you could have sworn that it brought a smile to his face – something of a relief, considering he’d looked painfully guilty when you thanked him). Papyrus huffed slightly, standing with his hands on his hips, his expression faintly disapproving.

“There is no need to thank us! To not do anything would have been…..”

He shook his head, before looking back at you with an unexpected fierceness, completely distracting you from Sans as he continued to fuss over you.

“Y/n. What….what happened out there? How did you become so hurt?”

Sans’ fingers promptly froze on your cheeks, his tender expression freezing with them – but you certainly weren’t about to lie to Papyrus.

“….someone did this to me, purposefully. You probably won’t know him, but he’s this…. _flower_ , I guess, called-”

“-Flowey?”

You blink in surprise as Papyrus’ fierce expression irons out into one of confusion.

“B-but….Flowey couldn’t have possibly done something like this! He’s-”

“Wait, you….you _know_ him?”

Papyrus nodded absently, brow furrowed as he started to pace.

“Yes, we’re very good friends! He’s always been so helpful, giving me advice, telling me that…..but anyway!”

You let out a steady sigh, expression crumpling sadly as you made an effort to sit up – which Sans immediately put a stop to, pushing you back down without breaking a sweat, eye-lights flitting from you, to his brother, obviously telling you to stop-

 

-but no. Papyrus had a right to know; especially if he was Flowey’s ‘friend’.

 

“I’m telling the truth, I’m sad to say, Paps. I met Flowey when I first came to the Ruins – he attacked me then, too.”

You left out the gory details about him trying to steal your soul – hell, this was obviously a big enough shock as it was.

Papyrus gulped, stopping his pacing as your words sunk in; he looked over to you with tired eye-sockets, his expression uncharacteristically morose.

“….I see. Did….did he say why?”

 

….well yes, yes he did, but after seeing the tired look on Papyrus’ face, you decided it was a more than bad idea to break into the subject of resets, considering you were still confused and horrified over the subject yourself.

 

“He….he wasn’t really happy that I got away the first time, so I think he just saw a chance to….to finish the job.”

After a long pause, Papyrus simply nodded, his expression falling into something grim, yet….he wasn’t sad any more. If anything, you could almost mistake it for anger, but….

….you’d never seen Papyrus properly angry. The expression was more reminiscent of something you’d see from Sans, and to see it on Papyrus sent shivers running down your spine.

“….y/n.”

You broke out of your thoughts to look up at him with an enquiring hum.

“….I promise you that this will never happen again. Obviously Flowey is….not quite the monster I thought. However!”

His expression brightened somewhat – while it still had that oddly dark, angry edge, it was….purposeful, focused.

“I’m sure if he is made _aware_ of what an important person you are to all of us, he’ll come and say sorry!”

“Papyrus-”

“Bro, that’s not-”

“Nonsense! Everyone can do better, if they just try! Sometimes…..sometimes people just need a little help seeing that! And seeing what kind of pain they cause. Besides-”

He stands in the centre of the living room importantly, smile upon his face.

“What kind of Royal Guard would I be if I didn’t protect the people who need to be protected? If I didn’t stop people hurting others?”

 

The room sits in tense silence at his words, before you break it.

 

“….Papyrus. Look….I know what you mean, about responsibilities and stuff. But with some people?”

You gulp, this time sitting up unhindered, head still spinning just a touch; Sans simply stayed silent, eye-lights clearly watching you for any signs of discomfort, but obviously a little distracted by the current conversation to do much about it.

“...some people, you can’t save – you can’t convince them. Some people will be so set in their ways, so focused on their personal goals that….well, nothing will stop them.”

Papyrus chuckled softly, walking over to the couch to ruffle your hair; you let out a squeak of protest as he does so.

“You’re starting to sound like Undyne, y/n.”

“But-”

“I am not a fool, don’t worry. I….I know that some people can be cruel, can be….hurtful. But! But just think about it – what are we curing with more pain? Nothing! We’re just adding to it! But if some of those people believed to be completely lost _weren’t_ – well, if we didn’t try to reason with them first, to give them a chance to make the right choice, we would never know, would we?”

He smiled at you softly, hand still resting upon your head.

“….kindness isn’t weakness. It’s a strength! And sometimes, it’s all someone needs to see how wrong they are in their actions!”

His smile wavered for just a moment, that grim edge glimmering in the background.

“...that said, it doesn’t mean that Flowey should get away with what he did. No, he shall be taught a thorough lesson when I next meet him! And then he’ll, _of course_ , say sorry to you.”

He puffed out his chest proudly; you could only smile weakly in response. On some level, you had to admit, you agreed with him – the world needed more people like him, people who believed in kindness.

But you still couldn’t help but think that Flowey was one of those who just….wouldn’t listen to reason, who couldn’t be saved, no matter how much kindness they were shown.

It left a bitter taste in your mouth – after all, you couldn’t say that you liked the idea of the alternative.

“Now….I believe you are due some….nice-cream?”

He winced slightly at the words, still clearly very much offended over the idea that you weren’t consuming something ‘nutritious’ instead. You smirked, looking over to Sans; he gave you a slightly wobbly smile back, obviously a little shaken by the previous discussion.

“Heh, yup, I think I am. Are you….going to join?”

Papyrus wrinkled his nasal ridge with clear disgust, leaving you to let out a giggle – it was such an exaggerated expression, you couldn’t help yourself.

“No! No. I must sleep – ah, but...”

Nodding decidedly to himself, he tapped out something on his phone, humming in satisfaction when he had completed whatever task he’d set himself.

“There!”

“….uh, bro? Everything ok?”

“Certainly! I have simply informed Undyne that I’ll be unable to work tomorrow. After all, you’ll both need at least two decent meals later after practically eating dessert for breakfast!”

Just as you were about to protest, you stopped yourself – after all, Papyrus did his training alone, in the same forest that you….

….you shivered. No, it was probably a better idea that Papyrus wasn’t working.

“….sounds good to me. Uh, are you sure that you don’t wanna get in on this nice-cream action, bro?”

 

It seemed that Sans’ thoughts ran in the same vein as your own.

 

Papyrus merely huffed in disgust at Sans’ question, reaching over to give your head one final pat, soft smile in place.

“Rest easy, sister. I shall see you later! And Sans!”

Sans hummed sleepily in response, stretching with a far more relaxed expression than previously.

“….you rest easy as well.”

With a decisive nod, Papyrus made his way up the staircase; you immediately found yourself frowning, noting how tired he was. But then again….it made sense, with all that had happened.

After his bedroom door closed, you and Sans sat in tense silence for but a moment, before he let out a long, tired sigh, smiling at you a little more genuinely.

“….heh. Uh….guessing you have a lot of questions after all that, don’t you?”

“I could say the same for you, Sans. I mean….with you dad-”

He shook his head hurriedly, letting out a huffing breath, settling himself a little more comfortably on the floor next to you.

“Nah. I mean, yeah, I have…. _questions_ , but…..those memories you showed me were genuine. I mean, you wouldn’t have been able to show me stuff like that if you hadn’t met him in person. So he’s….he’s ok?”

You nod vehemently, instantly regretting it as you head started to spin a touch more.

“Um, yeah, he’s fine. Well, I mean, as fine as you could be.”

“Could you….maybe show me some more? Memories, I mean.”

You nod a little more carefully, smiling at him softly – this time you pick out when Gaster had first mentioned his sons; how he’d described them with that fond expression upon his face-

 

-you instantly cease when Sans lets out a hiccuping breath, hurriedly wiping tears from his face.

 

You reach without really thinking about it, swiping your fingertips against his damp cheeks, just as he’d done earlier with yours; he lets out a broken chuckle at your actions, his usual grin returning to his features.

“Heh, don’t worry – I’m just…..I’m just relieved? I mean, fuck, I thought he was...”

“….gone?”

He nodded, smile twitching.

“Yeah. It’s just….a lot to get my head around.”

“Well, I’m more than happy to show you….more memories if you need me to. It’ll help in getting him out of there, I’m sure...”

Sans winced slightly at that, sockets widening as he thought things over.

“….just can’t believe that someone can survive there. It’s just…. _impossible._ ”

“I think improbable is more appropriate in this instance. But yeah, Gaster said similar….he thought it was because of what you guys did to yourselves with the Void magic? But he….I don’t know, there are a few things we need to do to have a chance of getting him back.”

Sans shivered, eye-lights shrinking down.

“….and one of those things are fixing up….that machine, right?”

You nodded, frowning ever so slightly as you took in his discomfort.

“Uh, yeah? I was thinking that Alphys would probably be able-”

“….I could probably do it. I just….don’t really wanna go near it, heh.”

Your frown deepened, and you tried to shift your body closer to his; only to wince.

“Urgh. God, my head’s….spinning so much. Is that normal?”

Sans lets out a worried huff, hand raised to push you back down into the couch; before inspiration flooded his expression, a smirk appearing on his features.

“Do you think Papyrus would kill us if we ate those nice-creams you’ve got in your room?”

“….not if he didn’t know about it?”

Sans sniggered, before gently pressing his hand to your cheek, his eye-lights flitting over to where your soul lay.

“….the dizziness could be due to blood-loss. I mean, healing can only do so much; your body will have to patch up the rest, and the slightly lowered HP isn’t helping. Also could be the shock of….all that happening. Or could be the huge amount of healing magic we had to pump into your system.”

He shrugged, eye-lights travelling back up to your face.

“….I’m a bit worried about your soul’s condition as well. Think we’ll have to take a trip to Alphys later on-”

You held up a hand, brow furrowed as you thought things over.

“….well, I mean, I could check the condition on my phone? Or I could try to….take my soul out and look for myself?”

He flushed slightly at the last suggestion, an awkward chuckle leaving him.

“Yeah, uh, could do that. The phone thing. I mean.”

You sniggered quietly; sure, you knew how much of a personal thing it was, but hell, it wasn’t as if you were suggesting that he had to be there for it.

You absently patted your pockets for your phone – before swearing loudly as you finally looked down at your bloodied body; or rather, bloodied, holey clothing.

“Ah shit! This was my work shirt, dammit!”

Sans, who had jumped about a foot at your sudden swearing, instantly let out a loud bout of laughter – much to your irritation, as you shot a glare his way.

“Sans! This is serious! What am I going to wear to work now? Aw, man!”

“Pfft, a t-shirt?”

Your scowl only deepened at that – you slowly raised a hand, flicking him as hard as you could between the eye-sockets. He only seemed to laugh more at your choice of actions, despite wincing and dramatically holding the your target area to prevent you landing any more hits.

“Just because you wear a hoodie and shirt to work doesn’t mean that it’s acceptable!”

“Grillby won’t mind.”

“I have standards!”

You had to force your mouth from twitching up into a smile as he continued to laugh; and sure, you were still more than a little annoyed over the fact your only acceptable work shirt was in tattered ruins, but it looked like….he really needed to laugh after all that. You both did. Sighing, you looked down at the rest of the damage, inwardly wincing at the memory of the gore that your clothing now held; your coat could probably be stitched together….but your shirt and jeans were definitely a lost cause. You let out a soft gasp of dismay as you took in the other damaged materials around you.

“Oh shit, the couch!”

Sans waved a hand absently at that, expression sobering a little.

“Paps isn’t worried about the stains, don’t worry – believe it or not, I’ve spilt worse on there.”

“….Sans, this isn’t….this isn’t a joke. I can’t expect Papyrus to clean _this_ up-”

He shushed you quietly, gently sweeping some your hair from your face, tucking it behind your ear – the action thoroughly distracted you, bringing a hard flush to your cheeks.

After all, things were a little….different now, between the two of you. You now knew that he….how he saw you, and what you meant to him. Obviously the majority of details on this whole ‘soulmate’ thing were still a mystery to you, but….

Shaking yourself slightly, you just about managed a smile for him.

“I at least want to help him clean it up. I made the mess, after all.”

Rolling his eye-lights, Sans let out a long suffering sigh.

“Alright, alright. Now, uh….I’m not sure what you wanna do first. I can easy ‘port us up to the room, and you can change and stuff when you’re up there….but did you wanna clean yourself up first? I mean, can you even stand-”

“Well, I mean, I can try. But first I’ll check out my soul, ok? Then maybe….you could get me something I can sleep in? I mean, if I can stand up, that is. And if I can’t….well, I’ll just have to, uh….maybe clean up a bit while I’m lying down, or whatever.”

You thought that you’d probably be fine, but it was good to at least think of a back-up plan. Sans simply nodded, looking on anxiously as you finally took out your phone from the pocket of your now ruined jeans, turning it on and accessing the app Alphys had installed on it. Gulping, you pointed your phone towards where your soul lay, waiting in tense silence for the tell-tale beep.

 

**SCAN RESULT.**

 

**HP: 2**

**AT: N/A** **∞**

**DEF: ////**

**STATE: FRACTURE**

 

Your eyes widen at that, and you wordlessly show Sans the result. He lets out a low groan as his eye-lights travel over the words on the screen, expression falling.

“...yeah, I was afraid of that. Not really surprised, considering what happened to you.”

“Am I….I mean, that’s the same as last time, right?”

“Yeah. You’ll be ok for now, ok? With all the healing magic we pumped into your system, along with getting your HP maxed out with food….as long as you take it easy, you’ll be alright. I’ll take you to Alphys later on to get checked out, so….don’t worry.”

His hand travelled back to your face, stroking your cheek with the softest of touches.

“….I’m not gonna let anything else happen to you, y/n. You’re safe. Ok?”

You flush hard, swallowing on impulse; you had to wonder if the power his gaze seemed to hold over you was something to do with the whole soulmate thing, or if it was simply how you felt about him in general…..but no, that would be something far too embarrassing to ask him.

 

It was bad enough that you still had to admit to him how you felt.

 

“U-uh, um, ok. So I’ll….just….try to stand up?”

He nodded, expression switching into something far more watchful as you slowly sat yourself up, wincing at the alien, spinning sensation in your skull; gritting your teeth, you swing your legs off the couch and onto the floor, settling yourself back into the cushions for a short break.

“You don’t have to force yourself if you can’t do it, y/n...”

“...I know I don’t. But I’ll be annoyed at myself if I don’t try.”

Sans lets out a rather unamused snort, shuffling closer to untie your boots.

“Uh, hey-”

“Let me at least do this for you – save you bending down that far, messing with your…..blood pressure?”

He looked up at you for confirmation, leaving you to nod; he’d really been doing his research when it came to human bodies, it seemed.

But then, if his soulmate was a human (or rather, sort of human), it made sense to know about such things.

“So yeah, just let me….do this. Heh, pay you back for the time you had to do it for me?”

You blink, frowning slightly as he began to untie one of your boots.

“Wait, you remember that? I mean, you were….pretty drunk.”

He flushed, chuckling awkwardly as he carefully pulled the boot and bloodied sock from your foot, shuffling himself over a little more to untie the other.

“Just because I was drunk doesn’t mean I don’t remember it. Sure, I wasn’t….uh, in control of myself, but I remember most of it. Sadly.”

You snicker softly as he pulls off the remaining boot and sock, getting up to place both of them in their usual home by the door (though the socks seemed to mysteriously vanish from his clutches) – he slowly wanders back, standing in front of you, hands held out for you.

“C’mon. Let’s try to get you up, then.”

Nodding determinedly, you grasp onto his hands, momentarily enjoying the buzzing of his magic against your skin – before hefting yourself up, gasping a little as the spinning sensation increased tenfold; your body flopped against Sans’, your muscles weak and shaky. But it didn’t seem to faze him; he held you to him effortlessly, waiting patiently for you to get your bearings, for you to plant your shaky legs on the ground beneath you, a soft groan leaving you as you fought against your suddenly weak body.

“Shh….s’ok. I’ve got you.”

“I….I know you do. I...I can do this. Just give me a minute.”

He stood strong, allowing himself to be an anchor of sorts as you steadily gained some sort of bearings, toes digging into the carpet as you slowly took the smallest of steps; he stepped with you, eye-lights carefully studying your features for any signs that it was becoming too much.

But no. You could do this. You had….gross, sticky blood all over your body, and you were not about to dirty your wonderful bed with it – it was bad enough that the couch had suffered such things.

Soon enough, you’d made it to the bathroom; and sure, you found that you were sweating a little, but you _did it._ The world might still be a spinning mess, but you’d made it to the bathroom – now you’d at least be able to give yourself a quick wash by the sink. You had enough sense to know that getting into the shower in this state would be a terrible idea.

Sans carefully opened the door for you,  still holding you as steady as you needed, allowing you to lead whenever you felt ready to. Deftly, he toed out a stool that was hidden behind the sink (a new discovery for you, as you’d never thought to look behind the sink for such things), sitting you down upon it, allowing for perfect access to everything you needed to clean yourself up.

Sighing, you settle yourself against the wall, allowing the world to cease in at least some of it’s movements, looking up to Sans with a raised brow.

“...since when was there a stool behind the sink?”

He sniggered, heading over to the bathroom cupboard, retrieving a few wash-cloths for you to use, placing them within easy reach.

“Believe it or not, Paps used to be the short one. And I’m talking _super_ short – cute little guy.” 

“…so he….couldn’t reach the sink without a stool?”

Sans sniggered, shaking his head.

“Nope. Still think he re-built the kitchen sink out of spite over the amount of times I teased him about it – karma at it’s finest.”

You  chuckled , smirking up at him; he smiled softly back, gently reaching down to sweep some of the hair from your face.

“….be back soon, sweetheart.”

Then he vanished, leaving you to squeak in surprise and flush so hard your head only seemed to spin all the more in reaction. Did he….did he just call you….

 

….oh my god, he did.

 

Your hands reach up to hide your blushing face in reflex, another odd squeaking noise escaping  from  you r throat as your very soul seemed to soar.

 

_Don’t be so stupid. He just called you something nice, that’s all. Didn’t mean anything, don’t let it get to your head-_

 

You giggled in elation, all but shoving the thought aside because you knew it was wrong – you knew that he cared, Grillby had said as much. You just had to admit you felt the same, that was all. You were a grown adult after all, dammit; sure, before you felt that it was almost wrong to admit how you felt about him when you had secrets you were keeping yourself. But now that you had everything out in the open, there was nothing holding you back – well, ok, you didn’t really want to be covered in blood when you said it, that wasn’t romantic in the least; and making sure you weren’t so dizzy would also be a plus, and-

“Y/n? Are you….are you ok? Do you need to go lie down again-”

You jolt up in surprise, hands flying away from your still very much blushing face;  you instantly wince, crumpling against the wall as the world spins around you. 

“Ah shit, are you alright?”

“Yup! Yeah, never better!”

You know your voice is at a far higher pitch than it should be, but dammit, he’d caught you at the wrong time.

He frowned worriedly at you for a moment, before shaking his head and holding up your favoured pair of sleeping clothes.

“This ok?”

“Oh man, more than – thank you.”

His eye-lights dimmed just a touch at your words as he carefully laid the clothing within grabbing distance.

“….you shouldn’t be thanking me. It’s….this is my fault, after all.”

You quickly made a noise of complaint, shaking your head vehemently and making an effort to sit up despite how sick it made you feel; he softly pressed you back, which of course gave you an opportunity to grab hold of him, you gaze as stern as you could make it.

“ _No._ No, it’s not. I caught you off guard with information that was life changing – sure, you didn’t react well at the time, but who would, honestly? Your reaction was natural; there was nothing wrong with you needing to take yourself out of the situation, whether you meant to, or not. Flowey just….saw a chance and took it.”

“But there shouldn’t have been a chance! I should have….I should have known, should have been more careful-”

“Sans. Sans, look at me.”

He does, eye-lights locking onto your face as you allow him a moment of silence to gather himself a little.

“Sans. This isn’t your fault. Flowey’s been….following me for a while, apparently. He found out about us, and thought it would be something fun to play with, I suppose….but that’s not on you.”

He looked like he was about to argue more over the matter, so you softly tapped your hand against his cheek, eyes hard.

“I’ll eat _all_ of the nice-cream.”

He snorted, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Considering our aim is to max out your HP, that’s not much of a threat.”

“Then I won’t eat _any_ of it!”

“Better.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, blowing a puff of air into his face as punishment; he sniggers, winking at you as he finally stood up straight – but you were fairly happy to allow him to do so, considering you’d semi succeeded in your mission.

“...right then. I’ll be outside the door if you need me, ‘kay?”

“Sure. I shouldn’t be too long, then we’ll commit the horrific act of eating nice-cream in bed.”

He chuckled – then vanished. You heard the vague scuff of movement from the other side of the door, so take it as a chance to begin the arduous task of cleaning your bloodstained body. Huffing, you squirm your way out of your much loved coat, sighing sadly as you took in the state it was in; you weren’t really confident enough in your sewing skills to not ruin what was left, so….as much as you hated the idea, it would probably be a job for Toriel.

Grumbling, you carefully set it aside on the floor next to you, peeling the thin remaining material of your once pristine white work shirt from your skin; you chuck that into what you mentally dubbed the ‘throw away’ pile, before slowly unclipping your bra and taking it off, holding it up for inspection – thankfully, it had escaped any damage, but was all but completely soaked with blood.

Wrinkling your nose, you chuck it in the direction of your coat, wetting one of the cloths in the sink and finally ridding your skin of the sticky coating of blood it carried; it was such an unexpected relief….you hadn’t realised how uncomfortable it made you feel until it started to come off – then you almost entered a mode of desperation, eager to get the gore off your skin as fast as possible.

As soon as your upper body was cleaned and dried, you quickly moved onto the task of removing your jeans, carefully squirming and wriggling the stiff material over your hips and down your legs; sadly this was a much slower process than you wished for, given the fact that bending to peel the rags from your legs would be a very unwise idea indeed. No, it was instead a very awkward affair, involving a lot of breaks as you manoeuvred your body out of the holey material like a snake shedding it’s skin. But when it was done, you allowed yourself a moment to sigh in relief – before kicking the sad remains of your jeans over to the reject pile victoriously.

Your underwear were much easier, but still just as stained as the rest of your clothing, so they joined the washing/repair pile as you started on the task of cleaning the blood from your legs and lower body, eyes widening as you did so; seeing the damage to your clothing, and the shocking amount of blood….it really hit home how damaged your body had been.

Your shock soon turned into a scowl as you angrily threw your wash-cloth into the sink as you finished up with it, beginning the task of towelling off your legs with a growl. You didn’t think that you’d be as….angry as you were, but you were, dammit. What Flowey had done to you sent your insides on fire; yes, it scared you that you’d almost died, of course it did. But it was something that had happened through no fault of your own – no, that was all on him, a being that thought that playing with people’s lives was nothing but a _game._

You tug your pj’s on without too much trouble, given the lack of tacky blood on your skin (sure, it was still a careful task, but soft clothes and clean skin did wonders), settling back against the wall with a dull thump, letting out a slightly exhausted huff as you did so.

A gentle tap at the door reminded you that Sans had been sat out there, probably worriedly listening to your huffs and grumbles.

“I’m done! Uh, I mean, I need to clean up the clothes, but-”

Your words are cut off as Sans appears back in the bathroom, taking in the organised chaos with a slightly raised brow-bone. You let out an embarrassed chuckle, biting your lip, pointing to each pile.

“Ruined pile – salvage pile.”

“I see.”

“Uh….I mean, do we just….throw them in the trash?”

“The clothes? Oh hell no, Paps’ll hate that. Nah, he’ll save what he can, no doubt.”

“….I don’t see how he’d be able-”

“He’s pretty damn good at sewing, you’d be surprised.”

You frown as Sans begins to gather the clothing into one large pile, ruining your hard work.

“But what about the blood? We’ll have to wash everything first-”

He shushed you softly, sending over a reassuring smile as the clothing in his hands vanished.

“Something we can think about later. Right now, it’s up in the loft, so don’t worry about it – let’s worry about you instead, hmm?”

You grumble, crossing your arms over your body.

“I think there’s been enough worrying about me tonight. Now, uh, should we-”

You squeak as Sans suddenly scoops you up, your world twirling for the briefest of moments; and before you knew it, you were back in the comforting squish that was your bed, soft covers thrown over your body, pillows being hurriedly fluffed behind your back.

Sans smirked down at your unimpressed expression as he was finally satisfied with your comfort levels.

“….thanks. But, um, warn me next time?”

“And miss you getting surprised? Eh.”

You huff, reaching up and poking his cheek as hard as you could muster; he does nothing to stop your actions, allowing you to enact your ‘revenge’ without complaint. Wordlessly, he held out your phone, seemingly as a peace offering – but judging from the smirk on his face, it couldn’t really be taken as such. Grumbling, you take it from him, eyes narrowed.

“Now you’re not getting first pick when it comes to flavours.”

He mock winced, settling into the pillows next to you.

“So cruel. So, tell me, what awful flavour am I being gifted with tonight?”

“Neither of them are awful!”

“How do you know?”

 

….he had a point, considering the only time you’d ‘tasted’ a nice-cream was through his memories.

 

“….I have….crap, I can’t even remember...”

You hurriedly sweep through your phone, clicking on the cute little icons that symbolised the nice-creams; they popped back into existence, shocking you with how cold they were – Sans wasn’t kidding when he’d said that they’d probably last forever. Humming, you read over the packets, before chucking one in Sans’ direction – he caught it effortlessly, raising a brow bone as he read over the flavour himself.

“….vanilla? Seriously?”

“Hey, it’s a safe flavour! Plus, the one I have here is far more mysterious.”

He chuckled, starting the process of unwrapping his.

“And which one is that?”

“….it’s, uh, just…. _blue?_ Is that a good or bad thing?”

Sans immediately ceased his actions, nice-cream half unwrapped as his expression froze. Worriedly, you waved a hand in front of his face.

“Oh crap, it’s bad, isn’t it? Please tell me it’s not going to make me explode or something-”

He let out a surprised snort of laughter at your words, quickly shaking his head, blush dusting his cheeks.

“Uh, no, heh, it’s not….bad. Don’t think I’ve ever had a bad nice-cream, so….you’re safe.”

Looking at him dubiously, not quite believing his words about it not being ‘bad’, you unwrap the nice-cream, slightly disappointed to see that aside from it being, as the name suggested, blue, it just looked like a normal ice-cream.

“….why is it called a ‘nice-cream’, anyway?”

You tentatively take a lick, feeling somewhat relieved over the fact that, not only did you not explode, it was actually delicious, and quite unexpected considering the colour – as a matter of fact, it tasted somewhat like fresh gingerbread.

“...huh. Well, ok, that’s actually delicious. But yeah, why is it-”

You’d turned to Sans to see why he hadn’t answered you, only to see his face all but consumed with blush as he simply stared at you. You flushed in reflex, brows pulling together in confusion.

“W-what? What is it? Do I have some on my face, or something?”

After a long moment of simply staring at you, Sans slowly shook his head, just as slowly turning his face away in favour of unwrapping his own frozen treat as he finally answered your question.

“….they’re called that because, uh, they have a….nice message on the stick for when you finish.”

You grumble, turning back to your nice-cream; now that you deemed it safe for consumption, you began to do so, inwardly wondering why it was blue in the first place as you relished in the warming tastes. Soon, you had sadly reached the end; you look down mournfully at the wooden stick that had once carried your delicious treat – before your expression brightens, and you find yourself giggling.

“...what?”

Still laughing, you show Sans the stick; he’d hardly touched his, which you found disappointing, considering you wanted to see the message his nice-cream contained.

 

‘ _Is this as sweet as you?’_

 

“S-Sans….my nice-cream is flirting with me.”

He looked it over, before letting out a snort, waggling his brows as he….

 

….bit into his nice-cream.

 

“Not a surprise, considering you’re-”

“Did you seriously just _bite_ yours?!”

He looks down at his very much bitten nice-cream, then back to you – and with the most smug of smirks, he took another enormous bite.

“Nah, that was just a nibble.”

You mock faint against you cushions, muttering something about injustice, leaving Sans to snigger as he took another bite, quickly finishing off his nice-cream in the most brutal of fashions.

“...but in all seriousness, you’re a heathen.”

“I love that me biting nice-cream is horrifically offensive to you, yet drinking ketchup barely made you flinch.”

“But biting into ice-cream can-”

“Ice-cream?”

“It’s basically what we call nice-cream on the surface – but the _point_ is, it can hurt!”

Sans snorted in disbelief, licking the nice-cream stick.

“How would it hurt?”

“Because it’s cold? I mean, obviously it’s not the same for monsters, but….the cold can make your teeth hurt.”

Judging from the look on his face, he still didn’t believe you, and you certainly weren’t about to prove it by biting into something cold. Instead, you eagerly point to his nice-cream stick. Chuckling with an oddly soft expression, he holds it out for you to see.

 

‘ _Are those claws natural?’_

 

Smirking, you look up at him with a raised brow.

“I don’t know Sans, are they?”

He hums, holding out his hand demurely.

“I certainly try my best.”

Sniggering, you snatch his hand, pretending to examine his ‘claws’ carefully, before shaking your head sadly, tutting under your breath.

“I don’t think they can pass.”

He let out an exaggerated gasp – then suddenly he yanked his hand back, pulling your body with it, leaving you flush against him; your eyes widened, cheeks heating up under his oddly smug gaze.

“….how dare you. Heh. How’re you feeling now? Not dizzy any-more?”

Well, now that he mentioned it…

“No, I’m actually a lot better, thanks. Guess maxing out my HP helped?”

“Guess so. Regardless, you still need to be careful, ‘kay?”

You simply raise an eye-brow at that, snorting under your breath.

“I don’t think I’ll be in any particular danger in bed – especially not with….”

You gulp, looking away, suddenly bashful.

“….especially not with you around.”

After a long moment, you feel his arms slip around you, a rumbling purr leaving him as he pulled you close.

“….yeah, you’re safe here.”

For the barest of moments, your body tenses; then you realise how pointless it was to resist enjoying his touch; especially if you were planning on telling him how you felt….

 

….which you were going to.

 

You snuggle closer, your body relaxing against his – he seems a little surprised at first, before chuckling, giving you the space to tuck yourself under his head. After a moment of just enjoying the warmth, the sense of safety, and the soothing scent that was simply him, you gather up your courage.

“...Sans?”

He lets out a rumbling hum as an answer.

“...um. Can I...talk to you about something?”

He moved away slightly to look down at you with a frown.

“You can talk to me about anything. What’s up?”

“Well, uh, nothing’s up, just…..you remember earlier, when I said I had to….talk to you about the soulmate thing?”

That got his attention – he shifted away from you all the more, eye-lights travelling warily over your features.

“….yeah?”

You gulped, looking away from that concentrated gaze; even if you felt…..assured that he wouldn’t reject you, you still couldn’t bring yourself to watch his expressions as you explained everything.

“….I’m….obviously I don’t know much about it all, but….well….before I knew about it, I….”

You huff, muscles tensing as you covered your face in embarrassment.

“…..I liked you before it all! I mean, uh, kind of….urgh, this is stupid, I’m an adult, dammit-”

“Y/n.”

“But what I mean to say is that I like you. Um. A lot.”

“….y/n.”

“As in, a _lot._ Uh. L-love, I guess. Urgh, I’m sorry, I’ll just-”

“Y/n!”

You freeze, finally registering him calling your name.

You feel him grasp a hold of your hands, gently pulling them off your face, his grip warm, his magic buzzing eagerly against your skin.

“….say it again.”

“H-huh?”

“Say it again. What you just….just said. Please.”

You gulp, still unable to meet his gaze as your voice quivered, your body quivering with it.

“...I...I love you.”

You hear him let out a sharp exhale, and you impulsively shut your eyes in reflex, as if that would save you from the embarrassment, as if it would calm your heart that was beating to the point you thought it would burst out of your chest.

“….y/n, look at me.”

You bite your lip, finding it all but impossible to do so – you hear him chuckle softly, his hands releasing yours in favour of cupping your face, carefully turning your head to face his, his fingers threading through your hair.

“...open your eyes. Please.”

Slowly, you do so, your face fixed into a wince in reflex; he sniggers, obviously amused by your expression – you find your eyes widening as you take in his, however. His eye-lights were wide, focused on your face with such an intensity that it had your racing heart somehow beating faster. Softly, you feel his thumb rub over the surface of your lower lip, leaving you to gasp ever so slightly in reflex, the sensation of his magic buzzing across the skin of your lips so….tantalising, that you simply can’t help it. He smiles softly at your reaction, his breath fanning across your face as he edged closer.

“….y/n. I love you too, sweetheart.”

 

The world around you seemed to freeze as he kissed you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....so, uh, yeah. Super long chapter. o.o But the first kiss is a special occasion, no? ;)
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, where we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	72. Sugar and Spice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we continue our 'heart to heart' with Sans....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

The first thing that strikes you is the raw sensation of it.

 

Magic really was a wonder; despite Sans being a skeleton monster, you could swear that you felt lips moving against your own – though of course, the faint buzz of magic across the surface was a dead giveaway of what was really going on.  
  
Not that you were complaining.

 

But every other thought was simply washed away by how it made you _feel –_ it was almost as if you world had be set alight, your very soul fizzing with excitement inside the confides of your chest; your body shuddered without your consent, a soft moan escaping your lips, your body arching up and against his, a desperate urge to be closer still.

Something which he didn’t seem to mind in the least, given the rumbling groan that leaves him at your response, fingers tangling sweetly in your hair as he deepens the kiss. You shiver anew as his magic buzzes against you, seemingly harder, as he opens his mouth-

-before you jump ever so slightly as his tongue softly caresses your lower lip, eyes shooting open. He freezes up slightly in response, body twitching as he restrained himself, fuzzy eye-lights meeting your eyes uncertainly.

But you aren’t surprised for long – softly, you open your mouth in turn, tongue gently gliding over his, leaving him to let out a shuddering moan of his own as you do so.

The next few moments seem to pass you by in a dizzying, sweet blur as his tongue caresses yours; faintly, you’re aware that the noises you’re making would embarrass you later, but at this precise moment you couldn’t care less.

The kiss was everything you’d dreamed of and more – every Disney stereotype, every rom-com you’d watched, all along with your private hopes of suddenly having a feeling of _belonging_. It was as if something you never realised you’d been missing had clicked into place; tears gathered behind your closed lids without your realising, your hands reaching up to softly cup Sans’ face, fingers caressing his cheeks, your nerve endings relishing in every contact you made with him.

You gasp slightly as his hand travels down to your neck; the skin was so sensitive to his touch there, that-

 

You gasp for a very different reason as a light begins to shine from your chest; you automatically break the kiss as the bright light filters through your eye-lids, your brow furrowed in confusion.

 

And all of sudden, Sans is gone, leaving you alone, blinking in your still very much present confusion as the light slowly dissipates from your chest.

 

You’re not too concerned, however; his soul was singing pretty loudly from the other side of the wall, signifying he’d fled to his bedroom. Sighing in irritation, you get up on your slightly wobbly legs (whether that was from your body still recovering, or from your previous excursions, you weren’t sure), grumbling under your breath at something you didn’t understand interrupting what had been a very pleasant make-out session (though the term honestly paled to the feeling kissing Sans had given you).   
“Sans.”  
You’re met with silence; well, you ‘hear’ his soul’s singing quiver at the sound of your voice, but he doesn’t answer you in the traditional sense – groaning, your head hits the wall with a dull thump.

“Sans, _seriously_ , get your non-existent ass back in here.”

More silence.

“I’ll start growling.”

….you smirk as you catch a soft snort of laughter.

Heaving in a long-suffering breath, you attempt your best imitation of a growl, as loud as you could muster; the answering chuckles only spurring you on as you start to ‘growl’ louder-

-a growl which is quickly cut off with a high-pitched squeak as a pair of hands cover your mouth, a body shaking with laughter pressing against your back.

“….y/n, it’s not fair to use my weakness against me.”

You wriggle your mouth free, raising your head to meet his smirking expression.

“I think it’s perfectly fair, since you teleported out like a _chicken_.”

He raised a brow-bone, before letting out a heavy sigh, pressing numerous soft kisses to your forehead and hair; you feel your heart quiver in response, your mild irritation already fading.

“M’sorry sweetheart. I, uh…..just didn’t quite expect that.”

Your breath stuttered; oh man, that nick-name certainly didn’t help your fluttering heart.

“….and what was ‘that’?”

He gulped, nervous smile in place as his arms softly slipped around your waist – and all of a sudden, you were back on the bed, with Sans curving his body around yours, sighing contentedly as he did so. But when it became obvious that you weren’t about to relax into his embrace until you got some answers, he huffed out a breath, expression more than slightly embarrassed as one of his hands travelled up from your waist in favour of playing with your hair.

“….uh. Ok. So. You probably know that….souls are pretty, uh, intimate to monsters.”

“Well, yeah. But if it just shines like that, doesn’t it mean it’s just on the surface, or-”

“….not like that. Uh. Your soul was kinda….trying to…..come out? I think?”

Your eyes widened as you looked up at his increasingly flushed face.

“Which is, well, really, um-”

“Bad? That’s bad, right? Oh man, I’m so sorry-”

“No, no! Not, uh, bad. Just….”

He chuckled slightly, smirking as he did so.

“….I’m pretty flattered, I guess. I know that you don’t have control over that kind of thing like I do, so….for you to just respond like that, it’s...”

You grumble, planting a hand on his chest firmly at you scowl up at him.

“I don’t get _why_ that would be flattering.”

His hand froze in your hair, an awkward laugh escaping him.

“Ah, sorry…..well, just think of it like this. A soul is the culmination of someone’s being, right?”

You shudder involuntarily, remembering the first time you’d heard that phrase; Sans’ eye-lights instantly become concerned, but you wave him off.

“Yeah, and a soul’s colours represent personality, yada yada.”

Sans snorts slightly at your blasé words, concern quickly switching to relief.

“Yup. So….for your soul to want to come out in response to me-”

He coughs, leaving you to snigger lightly at his sudden bashfulness, considering he still had his body curled around yours, his hand intimately playing with your hair.

“-well. It just shows….how much you trust someone. Care about them. And, uh...”

He blushed even harder, and a lightbulb suddenly went off in your head, leaving you to flush just as hard as he was.

“….oh my god. Are you….is this like….a birds and the bees talk? Are you seriously trying to-”

“Hey, I don’t blame you for not knowing, given how unfamiliar humans are with their souls.”

You gulp, hands slowly rising to cover your face in mortification, a low, pained groan leaving you.

“Oh my god. Oh. My. _God._ ”

You felt Sans start to shake with laughter around you, which did not help your agony in the least.

“This isn’t funny! This is just…..I...”

“Hey. Look at me.”

You hurriedly shake your head, hands stubbornly stuck to your face; slowly you feel Sans’ fingers squirm underneath yours, revealing your face to him once more. He instantly smiles as you become visible to him again, eye-lights slightly fuzzy.

“...heya. Look. This isn’t a bad thing, y/n.”

“How is it not?! You just _kissed_ me, for pete’s sake-”

“Trust me, it’s….I was worried you wouldn’t be able to….uh.”

He suddenly flushed for an entirely different reason as he realised what he’d just admitted to, leaving you to snigger.

“ _Oh_ , I see. So how long have you been thinking about-”

“Soul intimacy is different from physical sex! It’s on a much deeper level-”

“So you’ve not been thinking about sex.”

“I didn’t-”

He gulped, instantly clamming up as you looked up at him with a slightly smug expression, given he’d fallen for your plot hook, line, and sinker. Of course, he wouldn’t know that you’d never been intimate with someone – a brief kiss was as far as you’d come, and it was something you were pretty glad about, considering the circumstances.

He blushed hard, letting out a loud cough as he attempted to hide how flustered he was; you can only laugh in response, despite the lightest of flushes also dusting your cheeks at the notion of…. _certain subjects._

But just as he opens his mouth to speak, you tap on his chest, shaking your head.

“Nah, this isn’t gonna work. It’s ok, you, um….don’t have to explain it to me.”

His brow furrowed, worried frown on his features.

“Y/n, you still need to-”

“Oh, no, don’t worry – I know that I need to be….informed. Just seems wrong for you to be the one to tell me all about it. Well, not wrong, but…..my….”

Now it was your turn to frown, realising you might have been jumping the gun by calling him your partner. Sure, you were soulmates with the guy, and had said how you felt, and had….

Shaking your head, you continued.

“No. I think I know who I can talk to about this.”

Sans’ eye-lights instantly became concerned as his mind clearly ticked over the various options; you tried to give him a reassuring smile.

“….Toriel. I mean, she’d know all about this kind of thing, right? And she always keeps her cool when I ask her things like this...”

Your words drift off as Sans’ once merely concerned eye-lights become increasingly panicked.

“Y-You’re gonna ask…..oh _shit_...”

You let out a gentle, incredulous laugh, your brows rising in slightly amused confusion.

“What’s wrong with that? I mean, I know she’s my mum, but-”

“Exactly! She’s your….and she’s the…..oh _fuck_ ….”

You can’t help but laugh harder; but despite your amusement, you hands tighten in the fabric of his t-shirt, sensing that he might just run away again.

“Hey, look, just…..calm down. I’m guessing Toriel knew about us being….soulmates, right?”

After a moment, he nodded shortly, eye-lights travelling away from your face in apparent shame; you let out a long sigh, already expecting that news after what Grillby had said to you. But still, you couldn’t help but ask….

“...how long has she known for?”

“….uh. Do you remember when I bought you back to hers the first time?”

“That long?!”

He gave an apologetic shrug, smile uneasy. Huffing, you shook your head – you really should have expected that. Hell, Toriel probably knew how to spot soulmates from a mile off at this point; she’d been the queen, been on the surface…..she’d lived far too many years not to know the signs, you’d wager.

You start to laugh after a moment as another small puzzle piece fits into place.

“Pfft. Was that why you were blushing so much when we were there?”

Sans’ face suddenly became all too reminiscent of that day, eye-lights wavering in his embarrassment over the situation. You only laugh more, before boldly pressing a kiss to his cheek in an effort to comfort him; it seems to work, given his slightly dopey smile as you pull away. He inhales after a moment, eye-lights refocusing on your face.

“Yeah, she knew.”

“...how?”

Sans groaned, forehead thumping lightly against your own, making you jump in reaction.

“...she could tell by the way I was acting around you.”

“How’d you mean?”

He grumbled ever so slightly, exhales ruffling your hair, but carried on regardless.

“I….well, when she asked me if I could watch out for you, y’know, before we met? I was a little….reluctant. I mean, I agreed, as you know, but….”

“I don’t blame you. Hell, with your job and the fact that you had no idea what I was like...”

He chuckled, deftly pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“But when she saw that I was….well, not only more than willing to look out for you, but obviously, uh, suddenly friendly with you….she just asked.”

“….huh. That’s not a lot to go on, I’ve got to say.”

“She knows me – has known me for years, heh. Knew something was up, I guess.”

You once again feel awe and wonder at the ability of a mother’s instinct, before letting out a slight huff.

“Anyway. She knows about us, she knows about souls, she doesn’t fluster easily. So I’ll talk to her. Done.”

“….but what if she-”

“Sans. She’s not going to eat you.”

He blinked, apparently shocked at that particular notion.

“She’ll be fine. I mean, hell, it’s not like you’ve done anything other than kiss me; it’s just….better for me to be informed. Even if it’s a bit embarrassing to ask, heh. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be around for it.”

He grumbled gently, but you could tell he was pretty relieved over that; you giggled, before letting out a slightly nervous sigh, looking up at him warily.

“Uh, Sans?”

He hummed out an affirmative, his eye-lights searching your expression worriedly.

“….w-what does this….um….I mean, I know that we’re soulmates, but, uh….”

He frowned in confusion for a moment, before his sockets opened up in sudden understanding, a gentle smile crinkling his features.

“….y/n. Would you do me the honour of being my datemate?”

You blink in confusion, the unfamiliar term hanging in the air – but you weren’t an idiot, you knew it had the same implication. You felt yourself smiling in reflex as your confusion was shoved forcefully to the background.

“….of course. Heh, though, uh, it’s hardly an honour for me to be your….I mean, it’s more of an honour for _me_ to be your...”

He sniggered lightly, gently pressing kisses to your face; it was almost as if he was attempting to memorise every one of your features, an oddly sweet expression on his face as he did so. You felt your cheeks heating up long before he reached your lips, unaccustomed to the attention. He paused, so close to the surface of your lips it had you shuddering in reflex.

“….it is to me. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.”

You narrow your eyes at him playfully, smirking as you giggled nervously under your breath.

“I think I might have some idea.”

Chuckling, he pressed a light, gentle kiss upon your lips, so different from your first with him; it was so wonderfully sweet yet brief it had your toes curling in reflex.

“….I love you so much, y/n. Heh. So uh….”

He pulled you in close, his face settling into your hair.  
“….just…..hope you sleep well?”

Letting out a soft laugh, you curl into his embrace, hiding your smile in his chest.

“….yeah, I think I will. Love you too, Sans.”  
  
~  
  
Your eyes fluttered open, body stretching as luxuriously as it could against Sans’; you’d had a wonderful, dreamless sleep – you hadn’t even visited the Void, which was slowly becoming an increasingly rare commodity. Sans’ breath huffs out against your hair, his body twitching in his sleep – laughing softly, you squirm in his grip to be able to look up at his face; only to jump slightly as you see him looking down at you sleepily.

“Oh crap, I’m sorry for waking you-”

“Naaah, don’t worry ‘bout it….”

He gives a stretch himself, arms still wrapped around you as he yawns. For a moment you freeze up in reflex as you find yourself squished to his chest, before reminding yourself to relax – you were allowed to enjoy this now, his touch, and affections.

“Y/n?”

You hum sleepily, squirming slightly in an effort to look up at him, which he just about allows, soft smile on his features.

“...did you sleep well, sweetheart?”

You gulp, cheeks automatically flushing; which instantly made you berate yourself. It was just a pet-name, for pete’s sake. He was just asking a normal question. Hell, you should ask it back. Should you ask it back? Would that be weird?

“...y/n?”

You hurriedly shake yourself out of your increasingly panicking thoughts to nod your head at him sharply – though his eye-lights only seemed to become all the more confused/concerned as a result, his soul ebbing a little louder.

“Are you ok?”

“Yup! Never better. How about you, did you sleep well?”

See? That wasn’t weird. Everything was just fine. Yup.

You freeze slightly as an image is pushed into your mind; it was pretty simple, but it made you laugh softly – the taste of vanilla ice-cream on your tongue, and a very familiar, slightly horrified face staring at you open-mouthed as you took another bite of the sweet confectionery.

Which, of course, despite duplicate you’s words, did not hurt in the least.

“...feel better?”

“I wasn’t really aware that I wasn’t….feeling good.”

Sans lets out a gentle sigh, pressing his forehead to yours.

“S’ok. I’m just glad that I can actually do something to help you out when you _do_ need it.”

Your brow puckered slightly as you looked into his eye-lights worriedly.

“….I’m sor-”

“Don’t be. Seriously, heh, the amount of times you’ve dug me out of my thoughts? You don’t have to say sorry, y/n.”

 

….but you still felt bad.

 

Shoving the annoying thoughts and feelings away, you gently press a kiss to his cheek with a smile.

“Want to get up now?”

Sans gives you a long look, before sighing, and gently cupping your face, pressing kisses to your forehead and cheeks as he did so.

“...yeah, probably a good idea. Paps is gonna wanna make sure you eat a ‘nutritional’ meal, after all.”

“Which will be spaghetti.”

“But of course.”

Both of you giggle softly for a moment, before Sans releases your face with one last, lingering kiss that had you flushing all over again. Winking, he started to slide away from you-

 

-before promptly, and without warning, rolling out of the bed lazily and landing on the floor with a loud thump.

 

Gasping, you scrabble to the edge of the bed where he fell off, only to be met with him smirking up at you.

“….remember that first morning when you said you were on a _roll?_ ”

You can’t help but laugh, and laugh loud, even as you reach over and drop a pillow on his face for scaring you.

Still giggling, you step over him daintily, humming as you approached your dresser.

“Do you think Paps is gonna mind if I come down in my pj’s….no wait, don’t answer that, I know he will.”

You hear a muffled answer anyway, leaving you to chuckle under your breath as you approach Sans once more, lifting the pillow off his face with a raised brow and smirk.

“Really now, Sans. I’ve heard of _pillow talk_ , but this is ridiculous.”

He lets out a bark of laughter, grinning his cat-like grin up at you.

“What can I say, I like to live the _cushy_ life.”

“….that one was a stretch, and you know it.”

Sniggering, he sat up, making to grab for you; you dodge with a surprised laugh, tossing the poor pillow back onto the bed as you did so.

“C’mon, shoo so I can get dressed.”

Still chuckling, Sans stood up, before bending and kissing the top of your head with a happy hum.

“See you downstairs, y/n.”

And with that, he vanished, though you were still fairly sure that he caught your resulting hard blush as he did.

Patting your cheeks deftly, you quickly step back over to your dresser, efficiently choosing the clothes for the day; your comfiest sweater, along with a safe pair of jeans. Nodding decidedly, you open up your door, smiling as you hear the comforting sounds of cooking coming from downstairs. Soon, you were heading down, inwardly wondering where Sans was, considering he told you he’d see you downstairs – perhaps the kitchen?

But as you walk through the archway that lead to the kitchen, you found that it only contained Papyrus, who was viciously stirring a pot that no doubt contained sauce. Despite your mute confusion over the sudden lack of Sans, you find yourself smiling regardless as Papyrus looks over at you with the brightest smile you’d seen from him in a while.

“Sister! How are you feeling?”

Chuckling, you simply walk over to him, hugging him tight. He lets out a slightly confused ‘nyeh’, but hugs you anyway.

“I’m...I’m great, Paps.”

“I’m very glad to hear it! As you can probably see, I am currently crafting the finest of spaghettis for your consumption!”

“Hehe, thank you so much.”

Pulling away from the hug, you grin up at him, secretly relishing in the delicious scents coming from the sauce he was cooking.

“Have you seen Sans?”

Papyrus hums slightly, turning back to his sauce, his expression focused as he stirs.

“Briefly, but he did say something about needing to get some washing done...”

You instantly grumble under your breath, glaring up at the ceiling – of course he’d be sneaky and start the washing without you, knowing you couldn’t exactly teleport yourself up to the loft. Perhaps Papyrus would be able to launch you up to the balcony-

“But regardless! What matters here is that you most certainly seem better!”

“….how about you? Are you ok?”

His motions stop for the briefest of moments, smile falling a touch; before he continues on, as if nothing had happened.

“Of course! I am wonderful!”

“...Papyrus. C’mon. It was hell yesterday, and I’m sor-”

Your words are cut off rather suddenly as Papyrus grabs you up into a tight hug, sobbing hard as your feet swung in the air, sauce momentarily forgotten.

“I-I t-thought we’d l-lost you! Y-You were just ly-lying there, a-and Sans w-was crying and scared, and I j-just-”

You try your best to make all the comforting noises you could muster, hands patting his arms in what you hoped was a soothing motion.

“It’s ok. I’m ok, Pap.”

“A-and I had t-to keep going, I c-couldn’t let y-you-”

“It’s alright. It’s ok. Everything’s ok.”

His sobs slowly turned to hiccuping breaths, and after a moment’s pause, he gently set you back on ground, sighing as he did so. You stared up at him worriedly, before reaching up and wiping away his tears with the edge of your sleeve.

“….are you ok?”

He nodded; before pausing once more, and shaking his head hurriedly with a sigh.

“I am….slightly less that my usual greatness. But no matter! I will be….fine. Soon. It….it helps to know that you’re alright.”

Biting your lip, you slowly withdraw your sleeve. Still, as upsetting as it was, it was good that he wasn’t hiding his feelings under a smile any-more.

“….I’m so sorry, Papyrus. I’m sorry this all happened, and….”

Now he was hushing you, gently patting your head as he did so.

“Some things cannot be helped. However! What truly matters is that we’re all still here! And making delicious pasta!”

You allow a small chuckle, smiling up at him once more as he straightened.

“Very true. Oh, and….”

You flush ever so slightly, laughing softly as he frowns at you in a confused manner, turning off the heat on the pasta sauce.

“...I might have...some news? Good news?”

Papyrus planted his hands on his hips, smile a little more back to the usual, genuine sweetness as his expression switched from confusion to excitement.

“Wonderful! Good news is good news indeed! What has, uh, happened that’s good between yesterday and today? Aside from you sleeping well! Which is also good news!”

Sniggering at his wording, you rub the back of your neck, an excited smile of your own appearing on your lips as you finally _allowed_ yourself to be excited over becoming Sans’ ‘datemate’.

“I did sleep well, thanks, heh. But uh….do you remember that time when Sans ran off, and you told me to follow where my….soul was tugging?”

Papyrus’ sockets opened a little wider, smile freezing in apparent surprise on his features; but he nodded regardless, obviously urging you to go on.

“….well, um….ok, yeah, I know it took a while, but….we finally spoke about what that….meant?”

Papyrus’ expression was still rapt. You gulped, fumbling with your words a little.

“….s-soulmates? I m-mean….me and Sans are…..heh. And last night, we….um….became….datemates?”

“...you became datemates….without going on a _date?!_ ”

 

Your eyes open wide with shock as Papyrus’ voice suddenly booms out across the kitchen, his expression simply horrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, Papyrus 'rage' next chapter. >:3  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, where we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	73. Dating Start?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Papyrus has a truly devious plan....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

You felt your expression crumpling despite your best efforts to make it stay straight – and your voice comes out far less confident than you’d wished it to.

“You’re not….happy?”

“Of course I am! It is a joyous occasion that my brother _finally_ spoke about his feelings! As a matter of fact, I’m overjoyed, and very happy for you!”

You heave out a loud sigh of relief, holding a hand to your chest – man, you’d really been frightened for a moment there. You hadn’t realised how important Papyrus’ approval was to you before it had been in question – oh crap, you still had so many people to tell the news to, how would they react, would they-

“ _But!”_

Your eyes snap back up to him, gaze a little more steady now that you knew Papyrus approved of the two of you being together, at least. The others could wait. You were fine, you were – you squeak as he suddenly grasps your shoulders, sockets fierce.

“He’s gone about it in the completely wrong fashion, obviously!”

“...huh?”

“Indeed! There are steps to this, a proper process! That he has not followed! After all, as we’ve already established, you _clearly_ haven’t been on a single date yet!”

You allowed yourself a small, nervous chuckle, your smile twisting – you found yourself torn between outright laughing at the situation or plunging your face into the spaghetti sauce in an attempt to drown out your confusion.

“...well, uh, no, we haven’t. But what has that got to do with anything?”

 

….the look that Papyrus gives you is nothing short of pitying.

 

“….do not worry sister, I know that humans are perhaps more than out of touch with how these things work! But Sans…..he has no such excuse. He should know better, especially at his age! I would imagine he’s read the manual more than once in his lifetime….”

 

...ok, now the spaghetti sauce was starting to look like the more viable option in this instance.

 

“...Papyrus, seriously, what has-”

“But no matter! Thankfully, I have – of course – come up with a masterful plan that will fix this completely!”

You silently hold up a hand, taking a moment to just breathe, before looking back up at him – frankly, he looks almost _devious_ , excitement practically twinkling in his sockets. Obviously, he’d been more than expecting Sans to ‘go about this all wrong’ and had probably been crafting this master plot of his for quite some time.

You try your best to fight the smile threatening to appear on your features – you just couldn’t help it when faced with an expression like that; it was as endearing as a puppy excited for Christmas.

“….ok, I’ll bite. What’s this plan?”

Papyrus lets out a happy squeak – and the next thing you knew, you were being thrown (carefully, of course) over his shoulder; he lets out a chortling ‘nyeh heh heh’ running out of the kitchen with you, yelling as loudly as you’d ever heard him yell – as a matter of fact, it actually makes you wince.

“OF COURSE, Y/N, IT WOULD BE A _PLEASURE_ TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU! I’LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE REALLY SPECIAL. A PLACE I LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME. MY ROOM, OF COURSE. WHERE WE CAN GO AND DO WHATEVER PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY DATE! SO YES. DATING. MY ROOM.”

Your eyes widen, mouth hanging open to hear Papyrus utter such a thing – before yelping as you felt him actually kick his door open; it was pretty shocking that the door hadn’t been blown off it’s hinges, considering the force behind said kick. Still fairly shell-shocked, you felt yourself being set down rather carefully in the centre of Papyrus’ bedroom, Papyrus himself letting out a rather satisfied huff as he walked over to his door….

….and locked it.

“Papyrus-”

He hurriedly pressed a finger to his teeth, all but sprinting over to his computer desk and scribbling something down as his voice continued to boom out – though not quite as much as the almost ear-splitting previous volume.

“Y/n, I think you’ll find that there are no skeletons in my closet!…..apart from me sometimes, nyeh heh heh!”

He wordlessly holds up the paper as he continues to laugh, revealing the message:

 

‘ _Sans is no doubt standing outside listening – my plan is faultless, do not worry!’_

 

You frown, still not quite understanding what this plan of his would achieve in the end; but, alas, that spark of pure, happy excitement was still on his face, and to squash something like that down after the night he’d had would be nothing short of evil.

So, you silently nod with a slightly nervous grin, shuffling your feet against the carpet as you wondered what shenanigans you’d be going along with next. Papyrus let out a gentle cough, looking at you meaningfully.

“So, uh…. _if you’ve seen everything_ ….do you want to start the date?”

Muffling a laugh, you straighten your shoulders, fighting to keep your voice from wavering with the giggles that were threatening.

“Yup, certainly am!”

Papyrus’ grin widened ten-fold, his hands snapping to his hips.

“Okay! Dating start!”

For a long moment, there was silence; his declaration had suggested something dramatic, but nothing seemed to be happening – you blink in confusion for a moment, but Papyrus doesn’t seem to be all that concerned. Just as you’re about to question what was going on, he coughed under his breath, his booming tones exiting him in a clearly practised drawl.

“Here we are! On our date!”

His expression faltered for just a moment, his tone coming out much softer; almost a stage whisper.

“I’ve actually never done this before….but don’t worry! You can’t spell prepared without several letters from my name! Behold!”

You yelp as he suddenly tosses a book in your direction; you fumble with it for the barest of moments, before finally steadying it in your hands. Blinking in a startled fashion, you look down at it mutely.

 

‘ _Official Dating Rulebook’_

 

...well, now you at least knew what he’d been referring to earlier.

“I snagged a few copies of rulebook from the library!”

“Librarby.”

He throws you a momentary scowl, before continuing, flipping the book open to the first page, ushering for you to do the same; sniggering, you do as directed, eyeing the pages with a raised brow.

 

‘ _Step one: Find someone you care about!’_

 

“Wowie! The first step has been completed with flying colours!”

Your eyes drift up from the pages to grin over at him with a soft chuckle.

“Sure has, Paps. So….next step?”

“Indeed!”

Still chuckling, your eyes fall back to the book clutched in your hands.

 

‘ _Step two: Ask them on a date!’_

 

“Ahem!”

Distracted once again from your reading, you look back up at Papyrus, who was, once more, standing rather importantly, his hands firmly positioned on his hip-bones.

“Sister! I, the great Papyrus….will go on a date with you!”

A snort of laughter leaves you before you can stop it; biting your lip for the barest of moments, you gather your composure – you couldn’t really correct him at this point, considering he’d already made his statement…..but he appeared to be waiting for an answer regardless.

“Uh….sure?”

“Fantastic! Now, onto step three!”

Sighing, you look back to the book.

 

‘ _Step three: Put on nice clothes to show that you care!’_

 

“….um, well, I guess I really like this sweater? Heh, sorry, didn’t really have time to dress up…”

“Regardless, you are wearing clothing – it shows that you care! And – _gasp!_ Earlier, you were also wearing clothing!”

“….well, I mean, if I wasn’t, I would be nak-”

“ _GASP!_ Could it be? That you’ve wanted to date me from the very beginning?”

Papyrus has his hands pressed against his cheek-bones, his expression dramatically over-joyed – you inwardly felt that he’d perhaps been watching one too many of Mettaton’s overly ostentatious romance movies he clearly relished in.

Regardless, you soldiered on; not that it took much effort, considering how surreal this comedic situation had suddenly become. Standing proudly, you grin up at him, throwing out your voice in as dramatic a tone as you could.

“Um…..yes! But of course!”

Papyrus’ answering gasp is so loud that it concerns you for a moment, worried that he’d actually believed your ‘incredible acting skills’ - before you let out a gentle sigh of relief as he continues his dramatic speech.

“No! You planned it all! You’re clearly way better at dating than I am!”

“Aw, Paps, I wouldn’t say that I’m-”

You jolt as he suddenly falls to his knees, raising his head to cry up at the ceiling.

“N-Nooooo! Your dating power-! Is too strong!”

There’s a moment of silence as you look on in mute confusion, unsure of how to reply to such a statement; you all but jump out of your skin once more as he leaps back up so fast it was almost as if he’d never slumped to his knees in the first place.

“Nyeh! Nyeh heh heh! Don’t think that you’ve bested me yet! I, the great Papyrus….have never been beaten at dating, and I never will!”

“...but didn’t you say that you’d never done this-”

“I can easily keep up with you!”

Chuckling, you momentarily hide your face in your book to smother any laughter, before raising it once more with a gentle huff.

“I don’t doubt it for a moment!”

“Good! For you see, I, too, can wear clothing!”

There’s another pause, before Papyrus lets out an audible sigh, indicating for you to turn around. You make a soft noise of understanding, quickly swivelling around to face the door. Listening to the hurried clatters and scuffles of movement, your eyes travel over to the door – where you see a most definite shadow, indicating ‘someone’ was indeed waiting just outside, clearly listening. Papyrus’ booming tones suddenly echo from behind you – but you don’t turn, considering there was still more than a little bit of rustling going on.

“As a matter of fact, I _always_ wear my special clothes underneath my regular clothes!”

You hear the wardrobe open, followed by more rustling.

“Just in case someone happens to ask me on a date!”

A little more rustling, before you hear him let out a satisfied hum, and you feel a brief tap on your shoulder.

“Ahem. Behold!”

Smirking, you turn, expression expectant-

 

-though nothing could have prepared you for the sight of Papyrus in his ‘special date clothes’.

 

His shirt was the first thing that caught your attention – it was a crop top, just long enough to cover his rib-cage, displaying the words, ‘cool dude’, clearly written in bold, black marker pen. Of course, the top’s attachments were just as eccentric; what appeared to be basketballs topped Papyrus’ shoulders in an almost pauldron-like fashion – how he’d managed to attach them to his shoulders without them deflating was a mystery to you. Upon his head was a baseball cap, which was, of course, worn backwards for maximum coolness (or rather, that was what you assumed). He’d swapped his usual hot-pants for a pair of slightly longer shorts, which definitely matched the ‘sporty’ theme that he had going (even if it was numerous sports mixed together – regardless, it was a theme). Lastly, he had on a pair of pristine white, knee-high socks and bright red sneakers, finishing off the look perfectly.

….you had to admit, it had you feeling a little underdressed.

“Nyeh! What do you think of my secret style, y/n?”

His sockets are hopeful; he’d obviously put so much thought and time into it, along with this crazy plan of his – grinning, you give him a big thumbs up.

“I love it!”

“...NO!”

Your eyes widen at this exclamation, wondering what was wrong with what you’d said-

“….A GENUINE COMPLIMENT!”

….oh, ok, it was just more dramatics, thankfully.

“However!”

Your brows rise in slight surprise as he sends you an almost devious grin again, signalling yet more wicked plans, surely.

“You don’t _truly_ understand the hidden power of this outfit! Therefore….what you just said is invalid!”

“….but I really do-”

“No! This date will not escalate any further! Unless….you find my secret. But that won’t happen, of course! As it has _nothing_ to do with my hat at all!”

It takes him all but pointing at his head for you to catch on to this latest ‘twist’ in his master plot.

“...uhh….is your secret something to do with...your hat?”

“My hat?!…...nyeh heh heh!”

Slowly, he reaches up, lifting the hat off his head, revealing-

-a plate of spaghetti.

….you really had no idea how it had fit underneath the hat, but there it was, all the same.

“W-Well then….you found my most secret of secrets! I suppose I have no choice! It’s a present….a present just for you!”

“...so that I’ll get something nutritional, right?”

“But of course! Spaghetti, the most nutritional of meals, that’s what you’re thinking, correct?”

“...well, I mean, yeah, it’s-”

“But oh-so wrong! This ain’t any plain ol’ pasta!”

You blink, mouth hanging open with shock upon hearing Papyrus utter the phrase ‘ain’t’; you had to say, you didn’t know that his accent was capable of such a feat. Slowly you shake off your surprise, brow quirking.

“So, um, if it’s not just spaghetti, what is it?”

“This is an artisan’s work! Silken spaghetti, finely aged in an oaken cask…then cooked by me, master chef Papyrus!”

Your nose wrinkled slightly, not sure that you liked the sound of aged spaghetti all that much, but you roll with it regardless.

“Well, alright then. Thank you!”

You jump as he suddenly points at you with all the drama of a comic book villain, plate of spaghetti somehow remaining perfectly balanced on his head; you accidentally drop the date book in your surprise, wincing as it almost hits your foot in the process of it falling to the ground with a thump.

“Y/n! It’s time to- oh, goodness, are you alright?”

“Yeah, just surprised me, heh, don’t worry about it.”

“Ah. Ahem. It’s time to end this! There’s no way this can go any further!”

With a flourish, he carefully takes the plate of spaghetti from his head, holding it out for you – before hissing under his breath.

“ _Just pretend to eat it – I got this from the fridge, and I want your first meal of the day to be a fresh one!”_

Snickering softly, you go through the motions of taking a forkful, pretending to take a small bite; you let out an exaggerated groan, mentally crossing your fingers that it sounded like you were enjoying your ‘artisan’ pasta, instead of being pained by it.

It seemed like your ‘acting’ once again went over well, considering the joyful gasp that Papyrus let out but a few seconds later.

“What a passionate expression! You must really love my cooking!”

“Heh, you know that I do already, Pap.”

“And by extension, that must also mean that you love me! Maybe even more than I already do!”

You chuckle, looking at him with amused confusion.

“Heh, ‘course I do, but-”

You find yourself all but jumping out of your skin yet again as Papyrus lets out a dramatic yell, falling to his knees once more (carefully placing the cold plate of spaghetti to the side to ensure it wouldn’t spill anywhere, of course). You really weren’t sure how many more shocks your poor heart could take.

“AUGH! URRRGH! NOOOOO!”

You wince at the shout, before letting out a gentle squeak as he grasped your shoulders; he sends you a comforting expression for the barest of moments, before launching back into character, his face twisting into one of anguish.

“Y/n. It’s clear now. You’re madly in love with me.”

 

….if you’d been drinking something, you’d have spat it out at this point.

 

Papyrus’ gaze clearly travels over to the door, the sneakiest of smiles ghosting through his anguished sockets and tones.

“Everything you do. Everything you say!….it’s all been….for my sake.”

You blink, not expecting the sudden honesty in his tone as he looks down at you warmly, anguished expression extinguishing.

“….y/n. I want you to be happy, too.”

“Papyrus….”

He suddenly chuckles, pressing a hand to his chest, sockets closing as he grins wide.

“It’s time for me to express my feelings! It’s time that I told you. I, Papyrus….I’m sorry.”

“….huh?”

“I don’t like you in the way that you _clearly_ like me. Romantically, I mean. I thought that in a _date setting_ , such feelings would blossom forth! I would be able to match your obvious passion for me…..but alas, I, the great Papyrus….have failed.”

He presses the back of his hand to his forehead, sockets still closed, his expression back to one of dramatic anguish as he delivered his well rehearsed lines.

“I feel just the same as I did before. And instead, by dating you….I have only drawn you deeper….into your intense love for me!”

You have to cover your mouth to smother your frankly shocked laughter at this situation, wondering what Sans’ expression could be on the other side of that door. Papyrus meanwhile continued his monologue – and it only became all the more clear that he’d obviously drawn inspiration from Mettaton’s dramas.

“A dark prison of passion, with no escape. Oh, how could I have done this to my dear friend?….no! Wait! This is wrong! I refuse to fail!”

Your eyes widen as you find your shoulders being grasped once again, Papyrus looking at you with his usual, genuine smile.

“Sister! I shall help you through these trying times! I’ll keep being your cool friend – and act like none of this ever happened.”

“...I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget this.”

Papyrus had to do his best to cover his own laugh this time, taking a moment to compose himself, before gently patting your head.

“….you’re very great, y/n. Just as great as me! And it would be tragic to lose your friendship. So please...”

He gave you an exaggerated wink, before yelling in the direction of the door.

“Please! Don’t cry because I won’t kiss you! Oh no!”

You hear the lock suddenly click open, leaving the door to slowly swing open, revealing a very, very done looking Sans. Papyrus only smirks in his direction, continuing his words without pause; he’d clearly been expecting Sans to enter at this point, and was incredibly smug about his plan going exactly as foreseen.

“….because, someday, you’ll find someone as great as me. Well, ok, _maybe_ second best, but...”

Sans attempts for the smallest of moments to remain stony faced, before letting out a long sigh, smiling as he did so.

“….’kay, ‘kay, you win, I get the message loud and clear, bro.”

Papyrus lets out an excited sound, before jumping up, picking up the dating guide you’d dropped, and hurriedly holding it to his brother with a slightly stern gaze. Sans merely eyed it, gentle smirk in place.

“….just in case you need a little reminder.”

“I heard you going through the steps-”

“Then you will understand how terrible it is that you skipped through steps 2 to 10!”

You cough slightly under your breath, getting both of the brother’s attentions immediately.

“...um. Do you think it would be alright if I could….actually have that to read? I don’t know much about monster culture, so I’d like to learn a little more.”

Papyrus hands it to you without a moment’s pause, looking over to Sans with that slightly smug expression once more.

“See, brother! Y/n cares about the proper process!”

“Well I-”

“See! See how sad and traumatised she is by your lazy actions!”

“I’m actually-”

He quickly places a hand over your mouth, looking over at Sans with a frankly deploring expression.

“Sad. Lost, confused!”

Sans, unlike yourself, doesn’t even bother to try to hide his laughter, letting out a loud chortle, completely ignoring the look of irritation on Papyrus’ features.

“ _Sans!_ Sans, this is serious!”

“Nah, I think you’ll find she’s called y/n, bro.”

You let out a loud snort from behind Papyrus’ hand, thoroughly ruining your depressed image – but before Papyrus could let out his very much expected shout of rage at his brother’s antics, Sans waved calming hands, looking over to you with an oddly serious expression.

“….y/n. You wanna go on a date, sweetheart?”

You flush, because while you should have expected this outcome, it was still something else completely to hear him say it out loud. Gently, you move Papyrus’ hand out of the way, granting yourself the freedom of speech once more.

“….um. Yeah, that’d be awesome, actually.”

Papyrus’ expected shout of irritation becomes a shout of triumph; you let out a loud squeak as you suddenly find yourself being twirled in the air, Papyrus’ wide grin of incredible joy taking up your line of vision.

“This is fantastic! Oh, I’m so happy! I’ve been waiting for _so long_ for you two to finally…..”

Any noises of surprise you emit are very much squashed as Papyrus abruptly hugs you close, his laughter echoing around the room.

You hear Sans let out a happy sigh from nearby, before you feel another set of arms around the both of you, a familiar warmth at your back.

“...well, now that you two have had your fun giving me a soul-attack, let’s get y/n some food, yeah?”

Papyrus’ loud laughter dissolves to giggles as he finally lets you go, leaving you to Sans’ capable hands as you all walk out of the bedroom and down the stairs once more – Sans slowly slips an arm around your waist, seemingly intent on not letting you go for the time being. Papyrus sends the two of you one last grin as he strides into the kitchen, singing joyfully under his breath. Sighing happily, you look over to Sans with amused apologies in your eyes, whilst he looks back with an equally amused disapproving stare.

“...I couldn’t help it!”

“Mm-hmm.”

“He was so excited about it, I couldn’t say no!”

Sans lets out a soft snort of laughter, reaching down to tuck some stray strands of hair behind your ear.

“….uh-huh. Just, do me a favour – I skipped a lot more steps than that, so, uh…..yeah. Don’t tell him.”

You giggle, before looking down wordlessly at the book in your hands.

“Are the steps….important?”

“Think of them more as a way of being polite. I just, uh…..got impatient, I guess.”

He lets out a slightly ashamed laugh, rubbing the back of his neck; you chuckle, raising a brow at him.

“Afraid I’ll be kidnapped for more dates?”

He says nothing to that, simply poking your cheek as a reply – before he clearly thought better of it, letting go of your waist in favour of gently pinching both of your cheeks and stretching them out, snorting at your expression as he did so, especially when you let out a warped noise of complaint, patting his chest in an attempt to get him to stop. When he finally did, you scowled up at his smug expression; but before you could attempt to do the same to him, he was gone, his laughter echoing from the kitchen as you let out an indignant growl. Grumbling to yourself, you stomp over to the archway, poking your head around the corner – revealing Sans leaning against the kitchen wall with a smug, Cheshire-cat grin, Papyrus carefully dishing up large plates of steaming spaghetti, still humming happily as he did so.

You scowl over at Sans pointedly, before smiling sweetly in Papyrus’ direction.

“Paps, do you mind running me somewhere after this?”

He looks up in surprise, but nods all the same, bright smile in place.

“Of course I don’t mind! Where is it that we’ll be running to?”

...Sans suddenly doesn’t look quite as smug.

 

“The Ruins. I just need to ask Toriel some things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...aaaand that was the moment that Sans regretted his cheek poking/pulling ways. Yup.
> 
> *screeches* Gaaaaah, look! The wonderful KlaraKawaiiPotato went to the trouble of making a small animation for a 'certain' scene! >//<
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzESb7JOvaM
> 
> AAAANNNND! The truly amazing EsuercVoltimand did this...just....holy crap wow piece of fanart for DEISY, and I'm just....*explodes*
> 
> https://twitter.com/EsuercVoltimand/status/1096539650477432833
> 
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, where we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	74. Erudition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we have a little talk with Toriel....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday!

Papyrus immediately lets out a noise of excitement, hurriedly bringing out the steaming plates of food to the dining table; the look that Sans threw you, however, was nothing short of one of mournful betrayal. Rolling your eyes at him, you walk to the table and take your usual seat, inwardly noting the Papyrus wasn’t the only one who could be dramatic in this family.

“Oh, this is wonderful! It feels like it’s been so long since I’ve cooked with Lady Tori!”

That left you to think – had it really been all that long? You supposed that it had been a couple of weeks, perhaps, but so much had happened in that space of time it really did seem like an age ago.

“...huh, guess it has been a while. Though, uh, you might end up being the head chef today, Paps.”

At first, Papyrus doesn’t question this fact, merely letting out yet another excited noise, dropping the forkful of spaghetti he’d just been about to consume back into the pile on his plate – before he blinked, frowning just a touch. Sans hadn’t so much as touched his noodles yet, obviously thinking of far more pressing matters at the present moment; you tried to throw him a reassuring glance, but he still very much possessed a look akin to a scolded puppy, eye-lights narrowed down at his pasta.

“And why would that be? Not that I mind, of course – there is no greater honour than for me to at last reveal my cooking mastery!”

“Heh, like I said before – I need to ask her some things. Pretty, uh, important things.”

Silence hangs in the air for but a moment as Papyrus considers your words, before glancing over at Sans; and after a few seconds of taking in his brother’s facial expression, he lets out a soft chuckle, a sly smile appearing on his features.

“Ah, I see. Well, sister, I wish you all the luck in your endeavours!”

You blink, honestly not expecting Papyrus to actually guess what you were going to talk to Toriel about – unless he had assumed it was about something else? In which case, you had to wonder what, considering the smug expression on his face as he consumed his spaghetti meal. Shaking yourself mentally, you take in a mouthful yourself, humming in satisfaction when you find it’s as delicious as usual (and most definitely not aged in an oaken cask, much to your relief).

“...so what were you thinking of cooking?”

“Ah! Well, there are many things that I am currently considering at the present moment.”

“...but you’re not going to to tell me any of them.”

“No. No, I am not.”

Sans finally broke his depressed silence with a loud snort of laughter – you let out an exaggerated, betrayed gasp; Papyrus simply ignores the both of you, continuing to eat his food (albeit with that same smug grin in place as he did so).

Now that Sans was no longer frozen in his thoughts, the spaghetti in front of him seemed to disappear at his usual break-neck speed; after he was done, he slowly raised his hand – Papyrus waved a fork in his direction, granting him ‘permission’ to speak.

“Can I leave the table?”

“Brother, it will not take you that long to clean and dry y/n’s clothing.”

“Well, it will now that _someone_ decided to stop me sorting it in the first place!”

“Someone that wouldn’t have needed to have intervened if _someone else_ had followed the proper procedures-”

You cough dryly, effectively stopping the siblings from squabbling.

“May I perhaps suggest that _I_ do my own laundry?”

Sans snorted, instantly shaking his head.  
“Nah, I don’t mind-”

“I know you don’t, but you shouldn’t have…..you shouldn’t have to….clean up….”  
You gulped, playing idly with the remains of your spaghetti as the silence hangs around you. Papyrus was the one who broke it, letting out a long, gentle sigh.

“….sister. Please tell me that you’re not feeling guilty over what happened last night?”

“I….it’s not that I….”  
Your fingers thread together gently under the table, brow furrowing.

“….I’m guilty that I put you guys through-”

You’re interrupted by Papyrus abruptly scraping his chair back and all but vaulting over the table; you let out a soft screech in response, but you aren’t given much time to recover as you’re grabbed up into a hard hug. But, oddly, Papyrus’ words are soft by comparison.

“….it’s not your fault. None of this is your fault. And I am honoured to have been present last night – because it ensured that you were saved! Of course, Sans was also present, and was also a great help-”

You heard Sans let out an oddly giddy snort at that; he had obviously got up as well, as you suddenly felt his gentle warmth at your back.

“….he’s right. For all of that – well, heh, I wasn’t _that_ much help, but-”

“No. You both were…..I could….feel it, you know? I could feel you both calling me back. You’re _both_ amazing, but I just wish-”

“You can’t control what other people do, y/n. Paps can’t, I can’t – no-one can. If that evil little shit-”

“Language, Sans!”

“….that evil little shit decided on what he did, that’s never gonna be on you.”

You release a slightly choked out laugh, nodding your head; and though some part of you still blamed yourself, still felt guilty for putting the two of them through this, you also knew what they said made perfect sense – and that they meant every word of it.

“Oh, and you don’t need to worry ‘bout the couch, either – Paps already got that clean.”

You twisted in Papyrus’ grasp, looking over Sans’ shoulder with wide eyes to see that he was right – the couch was inexplicably clean once again, almost as if it hadn’t been a blood-stained mess in the first place.

“ _Holy-”_

You just about managed to stop yourself from swearing in shock as Papyrus let out a very pointed, disapproving sigh.

 

~

 

“Sans, it’s going to be fine.”

He lets out a gentle, worried huff next to you on the newly pristine couch – you were both currently waiting for Papyrus to change into his ‘cooking gear’ (honestly you were more than excited to see the re-emergence of the ‘kiss the cool skeleton’ apron). Luckily, Sans had a spare coat to lend you as your own was still currently full of holes and very much blood-stained – and while it was a little bit too big for you, it was very snug, lined with something akin to sheepskin, only far softer.

“...yeah, probably.”

“Not probably, _definitely_. We’ve been over this – she knows about the soulmate thing, and has done more or less from the start.”

“Yup.”

“….then why are you so worried?”

He scowled, letting out a soft groan, sinking deeper into couch, almost as if he hoped it would consume him. When he doesn’t answer you, you grumble, reaching over to poke his cheek – he doesn’t so much as flinch when you do so, making you narrow your eyes in challenge. Thinking it over for the briefest of moments, you smirk, given you’d never had your chance for revenge for the cheek pulling earlier.

“Sans. Saaaaans.”

His eye-lights flicker over to you curiously, but he doesn’t move his head – your cheeks puff in frustration.

“Look at me.”

“….I am?”

“No, I want you to turn your _head_ to look at me.”

Exhaling softly, he does so; a soft blush appears on his cheeks as you reach as deliberately as you can up to his face, cupping it for a brief moment, thumbs gliding over the surface of his cheeks – before you grin wide in victory, pinching said cheeks and pulling them as he had with yours earlier, revealing his incisors to the open air and your laughter.

Instead of making a noise of complaint as you had done, he lets out a warped snigger, grinning wider under your fingertips, eye-lights growing fuzzy as he looks down at you; much to your disdain, considering this was your grand moment for revenge.

Letting out a yelp, you suddenly find that he’d grasped your cheeks in turn; you pull his face just a touch harder in retaliation, only to find your own face being stretched wider as a result.

 

And that was how Papyrus found the two of you when he finally made his way back down the staircase – sat upon the couch, faces stretched as wide as they would go, odd, warbling laughter leaving the two of you as the battle waged on.

 

Papyrus simply stared at the scene for a moment, blinking, before letting out a long, suffering sigh; silently, he walked over to the couch, pulling the two of you apart with an authoritative air – before you knew it, you’d been plonked over his shoulder, yelping as the cold air of Snowdin hit you full in the face as he ran out the front door.

“Enough of your bizarre wooing methods, Sans, we have cooking to do!”

“Right you are, bro.”

You recovered yourself just enough to smirk over at Sans, silently poking out your tongue. His sockets narrowed playfully, but there wasn’t all that much he could do about it, considering it would more than likely involve him falling off his brother’s shoulder and face-first into the snow in an effort to get at you for sufficient revenge.

However, your good mood was immediately soiled when it occurred to you where you were – outside, in that freezing snow….and about to run through the woods to get to the Ruins.

Your body shudders beyond your control; eyes widening to nervously take in the blurred shapes of the trees as they flew by, constantly watching for any signs of danger, any little flashes of yellow amongst the white snow-

“Hey.”

-would you even notice him, if he was watching? You hadn’t noticed before, after all-

“Y/n.”

-he could be anywhere, just waiting-

Your line of thought is immediately interrupted when an image that doesn’t fit in with the panicked anxiety intrudes; it was a soft thought, gentle and sweet – you were so much smaller, so much closer to the ground….and a monster that you recognised with a shock was softly patting your head, chuckling as he did so.

A surprised exhale leaves you at the image of Gaster as he was before going through his accident and falling into the Void; you almost didn’t recognise him without the slightly melted, blurred features, but it was him, all the same.

Sans grins over at you after finally being granted your attention; slowly you feel your panicked exhales calm. And despite still being more than afraid of _who_ could be watching at the precise moment, you knew that you weren’t alone this time. Sans and Papyrus together….they were strong. You’d be ok.

 

….that and you were fairly certain that Flowey wouldn’t be able to take a direct hit from a Gaster Blaster.

 

You give him a wobbly smile back, letting out another gentle sigh of surprise as he reveals another memory; it appeared to be in the secret basement lab below the house – though this one was far cleaner than the one you were familiar with. Well, cleaner in the sense that the paint was fresh, the tiles pristine – there was still a scattering of papers, but instead of appearing abandoned, this was obviously just careless clutter.

You were chuckling, watching on as Gaster let out a disdainful huff (now you knew where Papyrus got it from), attempting to hide his amusement as he lifted up a coffee cup filled with….

 

“ _Sans, please tell me this is not coffee mixed with ketchup.”_

“’ _kay, it’s not coffee mixed with ketchup.”_

 

You blink, slightly confused as you feel yourself come back to….well, yourself, before letting out a soft snigger. Sans looks a little concerned for the barest of moments, before giving you a relieved smile; after taking in your obviously confused expression, he lets out a gentle sigh.

“...later.”

Quirking a brow, you immediately open your mouth to question this – but your questions really _would_ have to be answered later, considering that Papyrus had suddenly come to a grinding halt outside the doors to the Ruins. Carefully, you’re plopped down into the snow, Sans quickly following your decent with an overly relaxed expression; but judging from the buzzing rise and fall coming from his soul, he was more than anxious over the whole thing still.

Gently, you return his earlier favour, sending over the sensation of the sun kissing your skin, something you already knew that he enjoyed; he gave the barest of shivers in response, his soul settling in recognition, his eye-lights drifting over to you as it did so. Smiling at him softly, you raise your hand, giving the door two hard knocks, inwardly hoping that Toriel wouldn’t mind the impromptu visit.

There was a long pause, and just as your mind began to concoct worried ideas of Flowey causing havoc in the Ruins, the familiar tapping of soft footfalls echoed from the other side of the door.

“Oh my, who’s there?”

“….um. Uh…..”

You heard her chuckle as you dug around in your mind for a suitable knock-knock joke; Sans chuckles along with her, stepping in to save you.

“Theodore.”

Papyrus lets out a loud groan from behind you, obviously having heard this one on more than one occasion.

“Theodore who?”

Sans smirked, giving you a sly wink as he delivered the punchline.

“Theodore wasn’t open, so I knocked.”

You let out a snort of laughter as Toriel let out a laugh of her own from the other side of the door – Papyrus merely groaned all the louder, his head in his hands as he did so, muttering under his breath.

“That doesn’t even work – y/n was the one who knocked in the first place!”

“Eh, a good joke is a good joke, bro.”

“Sans, it isn’t even _close_ to being good! It’s substandard at best!”

This only made you laugh all the harder as the door finally started to open, revealing Toriel to still be chuckling; Sans, of course, looked enormously pleased with himself, despite his eye-lights quivering ever so slightly in nerves as he mentally prepared himself for the various reactions he’d imagined Toriel to have to this particular conversation.

You ignore such things for the moment however, rushing forward to give Toriel a hug; you hear her soft laughter from above you as she hugs you back, warm paws and fur taking away the chill from the icy air around you.

“Hello, my child – it’s so lovely to see you!”

You break away from the hug to grin up at her; it strikes you with a sudden jolt how close you’d come the previous night from never seeing her again, never hugging her again-

“...it’s lovely to see you too, Tori. Heh, sorry for the random visit.”

“Do not be! It’s wonderful to see you all again. Please, do come in out of the cold!”

The three of you obediently shuffle in, Toriel carefully closing the heavy stone doors after you, thankfully shutting out the vast majority of the cold. Toriel does give you quite the strange look when get inside, however.

“My child? Was your other coat not warm enough?”

There’s an awkward beat of silence, and judging from the look on Toriel’s face, all three of you were currently wearing rather suspect expressions.

“...did something happen?”

“...kind of. But I’ll explain once we get up to the house….ok?”

After a moment of staring at you worriedly, she nodded her head with a hum of agreement.

“Very well, y/n. So I take it that this isn’t just a social visit?”

As you all began to make your way up to the house, you let out an awkward chuckle, shaking your head slightly in answer.

“Well, I mean…..I do have a few things to…..ask. But Papyrus wants to cook something for you?”

Papyrus joyfully piped up from behind you, kindly assisting as you floundered.

“Indeed! I would be overjoyed to cook something for you! As long as I am permitted to use your kitchen, Lady Tori?”

Toriel gave a slightly delighted chuckle at his words, expression brightening.

“Oh, that would be lovely! I believe the last time I was cooked for was when you were last here, correct, y/n?”

“...yeah, I think so? I made breakfast, right?”

Toriel hummed in confirmation, expression bright as she re-lived it, leaving Sans to sigh sadly from just to the right of you.

“Ah man, it’s been too long since I’ve had those pancakes you make.”

“...I’m guessing that’s a hint? Pfft, well, I guess I do owe you for the washing.”

Sans grumbled under his breath about you not owing him a thing, but you could tell that the offer of pancakes was simply too delicious for him to resist. Chuckling, you followed Toriel as she strode gracefully up the staircase, sighing as the heat of her home washed over you, effectively chasing away the rest of the chill from outside. As you reached the living room, however, Toriel turned to look down at you with a slightly stern gleam in her eyes – you let out a light, nervous laugh in response, looking around after a moment for help; something which you did not find, as Papyrus was clearly far too excited about the prospect of cooking for former royalty.

“Come Sans! You shall be my assistant – but none of your mysterious egg pie japes!”

Sans gave you a worried glance for the barest of moments, before throwing his brother a lazy grin, waving a hand casually.

“Sure, sure…..you know where to, uh, find us, y/n, Tori.”

Toriel gave a soft smile at that, clearly spotting his worry from a mile off.

“But of course – do not be concerned. I look forward to whatever it is you plan to create!”

Papyrus stood taller at that, proud smile on his face as he began to stalk his way to the kitchen – before thinking better of it, back-tracking to pick up Sans, continuing on towards his goal. Sans doesn’t bother to put up a fight, allowing himself to flop in Papyrus’ hold, waving with a smirk as they disappeared into the kitchen.

Letting out a gentle sigh, you look up at Toriel with a slightly sheepish grin.

“So, uh….can we go somewhere a little more private to talk?”

“Of course, my child….are you sure you’re alright?”

After a pause, you let out another sigh, sliding the borrowed coat off your body, carefully placing it on the back of one of the dining chairs.

“….I am now. I...”

After another moment of silence, Toriel lets out a sigh of her own, leaning down to kiss the top of your head.

“...alright, let us go to my room to discuss things.”

Nodding, you briefly look over to the kitchen as you begin to walk towards the hallway; for the barest of moments, you could have sworn you spotted a flash of familiar eye-lights watching you leave, but that could have been wishful thinking on your part.

Toriel looks down at you with that same motherly concern as you make your way down the corridor, frowning slightly as she finally holds open the door to her bedroom; you enter warily, the memory of the test’s nightmare ringing through your skull. Taking a deep breath, you sit yourself down on the corner of her bed as she slowly joined you, soft paw gently settling on your hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

“….now, please, take your time, my child.”

Your hand tightens briefly in hers as you take another breath.

“….you remember Flowey?”

Her expression twists in obvious disdain as she nods.

“But of course. Has he been causing you more trouble, y/n? I wasn’t aware that that awful creature could even leave the Ruins...”

“...neither was I. And trouble is….a bit of an understatement. Look, um, mum, something….something really bad happened, ok? I’m….I’m alright now, but Flowey….attacked me last night. Luckily, Papyrus is pretty good at healing, but I….”

You feel your expression crumpling beyond your control, Toriel staying silent by your side as you struggle through your wording.

“….I was really hurt. I...I almost...”

Toriel remains silent, simply putting her arms around you as an answer to your words – and you knew that she understood what you meant, considering she was shaking just as much as you were. And for a long moment, you simply stay like that, clinging to each other as the relief washed over – for the worst hadn’t come to pass. Flowey, despite all he’d done, hadn’t prevailed.

“….where was Sans when this happened?”

You winced slightly at that, shaking your head in her arms.

“Flowey waited until I was alone – and I wasn’t alone for long, thankfully. He’s apparently been following me for quite some time…..waiting for the right moment.”

Toriel let out a worried hum, pulling back from the hug to examine you, her brow puckered, eyes searching.

“….my child. I am not….one to promote violence, but perhaps….no, I believe that you _should_ learn to defend yourself.”

You blink, really not expecting that response.

“...well, I mean, I….oh wait, um, I forgot to say – you know how we thought that, uh…..I might be a-”

“A mage? You’ve had confirmation of that fact?”

You nod uncertainly, chuckling awkwardly as you did so.

“Uh, yeah. Undyne – you know, the Head of the Royal Guard? She really wants to train me, but-”

“Then I suggest that you take her up on her offer, my child. While I might be able to assist you in learning healing magic….well, while I am certainly not useless when it comes to offensive magic, but I am sure someone of that position would be far more use to you in that regard.”

Your eyes widen, again not expecting this outcome; you turn to her with an odd excitement rising in your chest – for while the thought of using offensive magic frightened you a little, the thought of healing….

“Do you think that you’d be able to do that? Try to….teach me healing magic, I mean?”

Toriel lets out a soft laugh, worried expression dissolving just a touch at your enthusiasm.

“Well, it is true that I have always liked the idea of teaching….it would be my pleasure, my child. But of course, you must understand that such things will perhaps take quite some time to perfect – do not be disheartened.”

“Heh, no, I figured that it would. I mean, I don’t even….have any idea of where to start when it comes to magic. I’m getting better at the whole sensing, but-”

“Sensing, my child?”

“Magic signatures.”

Toriel looks surprised for a moment, before a sly smile appears on her face.

 

And, of course, you now knew what such an expression probably meant.

 

“Oh really? And how long have you been able-”

“Tori. Yes, ok, I know. I know about Sans.”

After a short pause of her staring at you with evident surprise on her features, she lets out a frankly delighted chuckle, elation leaking into her smile, eyes twinkling.

“….and how do you feel about it?”

“About him being my soulmate? I feel….I mean, from the little I understand, I’m….I’m really happy.”

Toriel patted your hand, still smiling in obvious joy.

“I’m so pleased for you, y/n. He’s a wonderful man.”

“Oh, so you approve, then?”

Toriel’s laughter pealed out at that, before she delicately covered her snout with a paw.

“Oh my, I ‘approved’ quite some time ago. But these things can take time, so I certainly wasn’t about to-”

“Wait, you mean, it’s….not always an instant thing?”

Her laughter softened at that, eyes widening with understanding.

“Ah, I see…..so you wish to know a little more about the subject, then?”

“Heh, yeah – seems like you’re gonna be really living up to these teacher dreams, eh?”

Toriel tsked under her breath at that, eyes gently disapproving.

“My child, this is hardly….no, this is every parent’s responsibility, to inform their children about the world around them. Now….what is it that you understand on the subject of soulmates? We can start there.”

Nodding, you turn a little more to face her, humming in thought as you did so.

“Well, I know that it’s….something that most monsters know instantly? I mean, when they meet their soulmate initially?”

Toriel nods encouragingly, so you continue.

“And that it’s….well, obviously a connection of some sort? A kinship. A sort of instant trust?”

Toriel’s expression softened at that.

“Is that what you felt with Sans?”

“...yeah, though I didn’t know what it meant at the time. Heh, ignorance is bliss, I guess?”

She chuckled softly, shaking her head ever so slightly.

“My child, there is nothing wrong with taking your time with such things, even with a connection such as this – leaping into something so complex and important without thought doesn’t often end well, soulmates or no...”

She went silent at that, a small frown appearing on her features.

“Tori….do you mean that Asgore is your….”

After a brief moment, she nodded, the frown transforming into a sad smile.

“….of course, our case is quite different from the majority, and from yours. It was a time of war, and given our families’ status….still, I will not deny that we were happy. Very happy.”

She went silent, as the unsaid words of ‘until’ hung in the air between the two of you. You gently squeezed her hand, sighing softly as you did so.

“….so, that’s more or less all I know. Aside from, uh, the tugging thing.”

She blinked, thoroughly distracted from her thoughts at that.

“Your soul has already began to….. _confront_ his?”

Your head cocked to the side, your face obviously expressing your confusion over the foreign term, considering ‘confronting’ something usually wasn’t all that positive a thing in your mind. Toriel lets out a thoughtful sound, carefully thinking over how to explain things a little clearer to you.

“….well, first, my child….that pulling that you feel? When does that happen?”

“Usually….um, well, Sans has….nightmares sometimes, so it’s usually then.”

Toriel bites her lip, nodding ever so slightly.

“...yes, it makes sense that it would be in a moment of turmoil, as sad as that is. He was unconsciously calling for help, whether he knew it or not…..tell me, y/n, when did this happen? How long had you known him for?”

You tap your fingers on your leg for a moment, mind ticking back as you remembered the first time, his bedroom filled with the fire of his magic…

“It was….probably a few days after I met him? I know I’d more or less just got my room by that point, anyway….”

Toriel hummed thoughtfully, looking at you for a long moment as she did so.

“….if that is the case, then it may not take as long as I estimated in terms of teaching you magic. Even if his soul was calling out to yours in that a moment when he needed it….for someone who was, at the time, completely unaware of their magical abilities…..for you to still feel it, that is very encouraging indeed.”

“But what is it? This confronting thing?”

“...oh my, I apologise my child, I was getting ahead of myself. It is the first step of a process called soulbonding – of course, this isn’t exclusive to soulmates, but something that monsters….and I suppose, mages….use as a deeper form of commitment to one another. A confrontation is something far easier between soulmates, as it is simply your soul recognising the pull of another’s – and responding to it. Are you….aware of what resonation is, my child?”

You nod after a moment of allowing the information to sink in.

“Uh, yeah, I think so. Like….sharing images and memories, right? I’m sorry, that’s the only way I can describe it.”

“Oh no, that’s quite alright – you’re correct. Resonating with another is, again, very encouraging in terms of magic use – it requires your magic matching wavelengths with another’s, so that suggests that you are more familiar with your soul than you are perhaps aware of, my child.”

“….huh. I mean, that’s….pretty cool, even if it’s, heh, a bit to get my head around.”

“I imagine that it is, yes….”

There’s a short beat of silence as you gathered yourself a little – you inwardly had to laugh, wondering how many steps this kind of thing skipped in the dating manual.

“...ok, so, confrontation is….a thing. Which I’ve done.”

“Ah, well…..that depends. I know that this is a rather personal question, but has….Sans seen your soul, y/n?”

You flush unconsciously, shaking your head hurriedly; Toriel chuckles a little in response to your reaction, choosing to graciously not embarrass you any further, carrying on with her explanation.

“Well, to fully confront another’s soul….the process ends where the next step in soulbonding begins. To see another’s soul is personal enough, of course….but the next step requires touch to be involved. After that, the process is, ah, simple enough-”

“But what is it? Soulbonding, I mean. I know you said it’s ‘a deeper form of commitment’ and all, but….is that like….marriage, or...”

“...no, it is far more personal than that, my child. It is your soul quite literally tying itself to your partner’s – now, this is where there is a definite difference between those who are soulmates, and those who are not. On a normal basis, it is a way of having a deeper connection with your partner, an understanding and trust that helps you grow as a couple – but soulmates have often reported sharing sensations and memories unconsciously, just to cover a few….instances.”

You frown, wondering if she was drawing from her own experiences in regards to that.

“...ok, but marriage is still a thing.”

“Hehe, yes, indeed. It is a wonderful thing, to celebrate a couple’s happiness – though I must say that I am not sure if our ceremony resembles the one that you are familiar with on the surface, my child.”

You shrugged; after all, it wasn’t like you were getting married anytime soon – for the barest of moments, your mind floated over to imagine such things, before you mentally batted the idea way.

“...so, uh, out of curiosity…..if your soul were to, say, uh, start glowing randomly for no reason whatsoever-”

“Then that would be your soul calling out for your partner’s to bond with it.”

“…. _oh._ ”

You steadily feel your cheeks grow hotter and hotter as that thought sinks in – god, how would you be able to look at Sans without hiding now, knowing what you soul apparently wanted so badly? Toriel chuckles, gently patting your hands in a comforting motion.

“….do not worry, I am sure that he feels the same, whether or not he is brave enough to admit it yet. But still, does that help a little, my child?”

“Yeah, it, uh, well, I feel a bit more informed now, at least. So….how would this translate to me be able to learn how to use magic, again?”

She laughs softly under her breath, smiling at the sudden enthusiasm in your tone; slowly her own expression began to mirror your own, eyes twinkling with something almost mischievous.

 

“Well….actually, you know, we do have some time on our hands….would you like to try to learn a little?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, well, who's ready for a magic lesson? ;p  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, where we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas


	75. It's A Kind Of Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Toriel gives a small magic lesson....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Tuesday! :D

“So, how do we…..uh, start?”

Toriel giggled softly under her breath at your eager tones, pressing a paw to her snout as she did so.

“Oh, my child, I’m sorry – it’s not nearly as exciting as you’re thinking, I’m sure.”

“It’s _magic_ , Toriel. I mean, if I can heal – I don’t know, I just feel like….I’d be able to help if someone got hurt or something, you know? I know you said about me learning to defend myself, but….heh, I guess I’m a little more excited by the idea of being able to help people-”

Toriel gently silenced you, putting a paw on one of your hands, her expression soft but serious, her mouth set.

“….y/n, please keep in mind that healing may….not be enough. Imagine, for instance, if….if there was something you _had_ to fight, to protect those you care about. Do you see what I mean? As….frightening as offensive magic may seem, it is simply a tool for you to use as you see fit. But you must also remember, that when it comes to magic, and the workings of the soul….your _intent_ is everything.”

“….so if I went to hit someone with just the intent to knock them back-”

“Then that is what would happen, yes. As long as you had good control over your magic, of course.”

“….wait, so if I didn’t have control, it could….I don’t know, hit them harder then I intended?”

“...that could happen, yes. Magic and your sense of self can be something quite difficult to contain, especially in a stressful situation. It requires a clear head to achieve the things you want – passions can rule a person, after all.”

You hum thoughtfully at that, inwardly thinking on how awful it must have been for Sans and Papyrus when they found you last night…..well, you already knew who had taken the reins in that situation, given how Papyrus had broken down in the kitchen earlier. Of course, you didn’t blame Sans for panicking in that situation – hell, you would have been a wreck – but you couldn’t help but feel yet more admiration for Papyrus, reacting in a way that kept his head level enough to not only heal you, but to encourage his brother to snap out of his own turmoil to do the same.

“...ok, so….any tips for keeping that level head, heh?”

Toriel let out a gentle sigh, smiling at you fondly as she did so.

“All I can say is to not lose sight of what you hope to happen. True focus is….a very hard thing to achieve, but with practise it becomes a little easier. Now...”

Drawing herself up a little, her gaze becomes far more serious.

“Now. I believe you asked where we should start?”

You nod eagerly, despite your mind inwardly worrying over the whole focus aspect; especially when you took into account how easily distracted you could be when it came to such things.

Toriel gently took both your hands into her own, before crossing them over and pressing them to your sternum; you keep them in place as she withdraws, blinking up at her in owlish confusion. She chuckles for the barest of moments at your expression, before her eyes once again become serious.

“….my child, I wish for you to focus on your soul, and your soul alone. Do not bring it out, but….simply _feel_ it.”

You frown for the barest of moments, before closing your eyes, focusing on your breathing – sadly, the first thing you noticed wasn’t your own soul, but Toriel’s; a soft, warm sound, almost like a lullaby. It reminded you of all the times you’d sat reading by the fire with her, the sleepy evenings absorbing the gentle heat from the flames….

Shaking your head for the barest of moments, you re-focus yourself, pointedly ignoring the gentle waves that Toriel was giving off in favour of finding your own – and when you eventually do, you feel yourself frowning ever so gently; as along with your own ‘noise’, you swore that you could hear the ghost of a familiar, deeper humming.

“Toriel….”

“My child? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just…”

You open your eyes from a moment, still frowning; but you kept your hands in place, not wishing to disrupt your ‘lesson’ too much.

“Is it….normal to….I think I might be able to sense Sans?”

Toriel paused for a moment, looking a little surprised at your statement – but she soon smiled softly, even if her smile was ever so slightly sad.

“….a soulmate bond can be a very strange thing, y/n. No, I would not say that your being able to sense him is unusual, especially considering he is not exactly all that far away.”

“But I...we’re not-”

“Ah, I did not mean a soulbond, my child. The bond between soulmates is something unique – a soul that is kindred to your own. The moment the two of you met, your souls recognised each-other, whether that was something you were aware of at the time, or not. And from that initial meeting, your souls began to connect as your relationship developed….which is precisely why it is easier for soulmates to begin the process of soulbonding in the first place.”

“….because there’s already a bond of sorts there?”

“Exactly, my child.”

You hum, looking at the ground for a moment, before nodding to show that you understood; then freezing as another puzzle piece slid into place. _That_ was why Papyrus and Alphys had been so insistent on you using Sans to focus on during the general energy analysis test – Papyrus was a lot more sneaky than you gave him credit for.

Sighing, you re-focus again, shutting out everything around you, aside from the hum emanating from your soul (and the gentle deep tones coming faintly from Sans – it sounded like he was happy, at least). But soon, your brow puckered again.

“….uh, so, I just…..focus on it? Is that it?”

“You can already feel it?”

“….do you mean physically?”

You heard her softly chuckle at that – clearly she did mean physically, then. Huffing out a breath, you concentrate a little harder on the humming tones. Hell, how were you supposed to _feel_ that?! Sure, you could sense it, but….feeling it was another thing entirely.

But then….you already knew that you could physically feel magic, as well as sense it. Sans was proof enough of that, given the pleasant buzz you felt whenever he touched you.

But the question was how to feel your own ‘buzz’ when all you could do was sense it’s presence – something that seemed completely impossible, honestly. You let out a grumble unconsciously, desperately trying to puzzle it out; Toriel sighs gently, obviously taking in your frustrated tones and expression.

“….you can sense it, yes?”

“...yeah, but I can’t-”

“I understand how hard it is, my child. Hmm….I honestly thought where I placed your hands would help to assist you….”

 

_Over your soul. Of course._

 

“Wait, um, let me try again.”

“….do not worry, we have plenty of time.”

Letting out a far steadier breath, you fall back into your concentration, allowing the ebbing and flowing sounds and sensations to flood around you – then slowly, slowly, you began to notice where they concentrated, where they seemed to flow from-

 

-directly under your fingertips.

 

All the same, you _still_ couldn’t feel anything physically, despite noticing where it came from – instead of getting worked up about it, however, you relax all the more, allowing your expression to iron out, your muscles going as lax as possible. This was everything that was you, after all – your deepest self. How on earth would you reach such a place if you were tense?

When you first feel a gentle thrumming under your fingertips, you simply pass it off as a placebo effect, wishful thinking – but when it happens again, this time for a far longer period, you sit up and take notice. It was bizarre; not like the buzzing sensation that Sans seemed to possess, far more like…..your own heartbeat, but instead of a simple thumping sensation, it almost wove around your fingers and down your arms, over your body-

-all around you.

“I...I can feel it!”

“Wonderful! Well done, my child!”

You open your eyes briefly to grin at her, feeling some astonishment when the feeling doesn’t vanish; with your concentration broken, it was a little muted, sure, but you could still feel that odd sensation ghosting over the surface of your skin.

You had to wonder if this is how you felt to the monsters all the time.

Still, your wondering would have to wait – there were far more pressing issues to contend with at the present moment of time.

“Ok, so….I can feel it. Now what?”

Toriel hummed thoughtfully for a moment, before biting her lip.

“Now, my child, you must promise me not to be alarmed about this – I will be alright, so do not be concerned.”

“….wait, what are you-”

You let out a startled gasp as Toriel holds out her palm, precisely drawing one of her claws across the surface, leaving a strangely empty, small cut in it’s wake.

“Oh gosh, _Tori-_ ”

“Do not be alarmed – I am quite alright. This is just a small wound, after all….but it will be something for you to heal, no?”

“…. _Toriel, you didn’t have to hurt yourself-_ ”

She shakes her head, biting her lip.

“...perhaps not, I am sorry for my rashness. My own mother taught me in this manner, and while alarming, it was effective….perhaps it is a little harsh, I’m terribly sorry-”

“No, uh….don’t be. I just don’t….like the...”

You falter, and for the briefest of moments you feel your soul thrumming just a little bit harder under your fingertips, almost if it was suddenly agitated by something-

“My child, I am so sorry. I will refrain from such drastic methods in the future – just allow me to heal this, and we can-”

“No! No. I’ll….I’ll try to heal it, ok? You said intent was important, so….what greater incentive is there than seeing someone who’s actually hurt?”

After a moment of looking over your expression cautiously, obviously worried for you, she nods, the glint in her eyes decisive as she places her injured hand on your knees.

“...now, my child. You can still feel your soul, yes?”

“Yup!”

Her lips quirked up automatically to your chirpy response, before she continues.

“Now, this can require quite the concentration, so do not be disheartened if the effect is not immediate…..but I would like you gently hold your hands over the area on my hand.”

Slowly, you do as you’re told, feeling faintly proud of yourself when you can still feel the thrum of your soul under your skin.

“...and now I would like you to focus on both your self, and sensing myself.”

Nodding, you bite your lip as you allow your range of focus to open a little; but you needn’t have worried, as it seemed your soul (now that it had been noticed at last) was more than adamant to keep at least some part of your focus – you could only hope that if it was a permanent fixture that it would slowly become less distracting, as the general sensing had grown to be.

Shaking off your thoughts, and now knowing that your own ‘self sensing’ was intact, you open yourself to the humming melody that was Toriel – though you frown as you do so, as it….

….felt wrong.

You couldn’t quite describe it, but there was something distinctly wrong with the sound. It wasn’t massively so, but the difference that was there was certainly distracting enough for you to notice. Almost as if the warming fires were burning too hot, the lullaby of the tones warping ever so slightly at the edges-

“Y/n? Are you quite alright?”

You nodded after a moment, looking up at her with worried eyes.

“I….I don’t know what I did wrong, but it just sounds…. _off._ ”

“Oh no, that’s actually quite wonderful, my child! You must be far more sensitive to such things than I realised – that ‘off’ sensation that you’re picking up on is the wound I have placed on myself. Now, since we have reached that point….I would like you to attempt to….heal it. It will involve you taking that sense of self you have achieved and forcing it into your hands with the intent of fixing my wound-”

“Wait wait wait, uh, that…..I don’t know how to-”

“It is alright, my child. As I said, this will take time. But that sense of yourself that I asked you to achieve – that, in short, is your magic, y/n.”

Your mouth drops open with that bombshell, but Toriel continued regardless.

“You remember what I said earlier, yes? Magic is a tool for you to utilise. As impossible as it may seem at the moment, you will be able to direct that physical sensation to where you will it – be it to healing, or defending yourself.”

You blink, mouth still hanging open as you think over that seemingly impossible task in your mind….

….but then again….

….you’d managed to make a sound into a physical sensation, a sensation that still thrummed through you, even now.

“….right, ok. Right. So just….focus on the area that sounds wrong?”

“Yes, that is correct. Though it does help to see the physical pain in front of you, hence my, ah….yes. Though, as you’ve noticed, I simply heal by soul sense alone-”

“Which is why place your hands over where my soul is for healing?”

“Exactly! When you have practised enough, it is a fair more effective way of healing – not only for wounds that are on the surface. It can also heal things like general fatigue, if used in the right manner.”

Just like that time that Papyrus had healed your aching muscles after your first-hand experience with his ‘training’. It also explained why Sans thought of his healing abilities as sub-par – he couldn’t heal without seeing the physical area in front of him for him to concentrate on. You supposed that if you had to compare it to anything, it would be like the difference between those that could learn musical pieces by ear, and those who could only learn via written notes; it was simply a different way of completing the same task, depending on what the individual preferred.

“...alright then. I’m….I’m going to try.”

“Take your time, my child.”

Shakily, you look back down at the small cut in Toriel’s palm; you slowly thread your fingers together over the area, eyes shutting briefly as you re-focused your senses. That thrum from your soul, echoing over your entire body…..and the warm glow that was Toriel herself. You only open your eyes again when you feel confident enough that you had everything in place, your body calm as you thought over what you had to do next.

 

_Gather the physical feeling of your soul…..your magic….into your hands. Right._

 

You supposed the best place to start in regards to that was your soul itself – that was where the magic originated from, after all. Letting out a long exhale, you focused a little harder on the odd feeling, and the concentration of it in your sternum….well, you could feel it, but the next step of getting it into your hands to actually use frankly baffled you. Your brow puckers from the briefest of moments; before the concept of intent and how strongly it related to magic occurred to you.

But it….couldn’t be as simple as that, could it?

To simply _intend_ for it to flow to your hands for use….

Well, as ridiculous as the idea sounded to you, it was all you had at this point. Huffing slightly, you focus on the far more intense feeling of thrumming in your sternum, shoving it forward with your mind-

-and nothing happened. You really weren’t sure what you had expected.

Groaning inwardly, you start to prepare yourself for asking Toriel for help, before the idea of….pulling comes into your mind. Perhaps it wasn’t something you could force into place; maybe it preferred to be led.

Sighing, you attempted to gently coax the thrumming instead, gently leading it to-

 

You jolt as you feel it suddenly concentrate in your shoulders, making your hands shake.

 

“My child? Are you alright?”

“...uh, yeah, heh, just….I’m fine. I’ve got this.”

Toriel made a faint noise of approval at the quiet confidence in your tone, but by that point you were back into your mode of concentration, gently, gently, pulling the thrumming down your arms with the intent to heal, to get rid of that ugly cut in Toriel’s palm, to right the wrong that you could sense-

Toriel lets out a gentle gasp from above you as an almost misty green appears around your fingers.

“Oh, that’s right my child, well done, keep going!”

Keeping in that mode of thought, of wanting to help her, you pull your magic forward a little more, eyes widening as you saw the green mist grow brighter in colour, more dense; it was more akin to a thick fog dancing around your hands now.

“Very good – now that you have it gathered, all that’s needed is for you to send it directly to the wound. Just….allow your intentions to do as they will.”

Nodding determinedly, you continue to watch the odd fog flowing over and between your fingers, inwardly elated that you’d done it, you actually could use magic, despite all the thoughts of uncertainty you’d had.

Looking down at the cut in front of you, your brow furrows in concentration – now, while you felt the thrumming under your skin, and could see the accumulation of magic gathered in your hands, you were now faced with the problem of….

...getting it out.

At first, you attempt to lead it once again, staring down in concentration at her palm as you did so; but the magic was stubborn, apparently more than set on staying stuck to your fingers despite your best wishes.

So it’s in one last moment of frustration that you _shove_ , and _shove hard_ ; barely registering your yelp as the magic almost pops out of fingertips, small sparks flying up as it torrents forward into the wound-

 

-far more than you’d _ever_ seen Toriel use.

 

In an almost alarmed reaction to feeling the magic literally burst out of you like a fizzy drink that had been shaken far too much, you jolt back, the torrent instantly ending as you felt the thrum snap back into place at your sternum.

The next thing to hit you was the sudden and utter exhaustion as your body began to flop forward beyond your control; Toriel gently caught and righted you, looking down at you with more than a little concern – but you could also see how proud she was.

“Oh my, well, that was certainly far _more_ than I expected, but, well done my child! You did it!”

You laugh shakily, vision blurring from the fatigue seeping into your bones.

“Uh….is….I’m so...”

“...oh, of course, of course you would be…..here, y/n, eat this...”

You look down blearily, noting the monster candy lying in your palm in muted confusion, not seeing how eating would help in this situation. All the same, you trust her judgement, raising your hand with weak muscles as you pop the candy into your mouth; your eyes open wider in astonishment as you feel the thrumming of your magic suddenly flare in your chest, some your energy seeping back into your body – enough for you to sit up by yourself, in any case (despite your muscles still feeling slightly shaky).

“Wha….wait, I….I thought that it was HP damage that-”

“Well, yes, the majority of our foods also carry that purpose, but….within every recipe, liquid magic – or some other form of it – is added, no? Therefore eating a little something can restore that energy, should you need it.”

You inwardly, once again, blessed the fact that monster food didn’t seem to equate to weight gain.

“...I actually did it, didn’t I?”

She smiled at you warmly, lifting her palm up for your inspection; there was no trace whatsoever of the previous cut.

“You did very well – though I will say that you used far too much.”

“I...I didn’t know that it would just...”

Toriel hummed, gently patting your hands with a comforting smile.

“Oh, it’s not a criticism – but using so much magic can be very dangerous, especially when you’re not accustomed to such things. That tiredness you felt was a symptom of magic over-use, my child.”

“….oh. Right. So...how would I be able to even stop it from….doing that?”

“Well, I imagine that it’ll be far easier to control now that it’s been released for the first time – things of this nature take time and practise. So you may find that at first you might use too little or too much – please, do be careful my child. If you intend to practise, always have someone else close by, and always have something on hand should you need to restore you magic in a pinch.”

You nod, brow furrowing into a gentle from as the beginnings of headache started to scratch at the edges of your mind. Toriel hums in concern upon taking in your expression, gently cupping your face in one of her paws.

“….hm, you’re still tired. Well, I must admit, you certainly used enough healing magic to fix more than my hand!”

“Oh? Wait, what else was wrong?”

“I did not sleep very well last night, I must admit – perhaps on some level I knew that you were….in trouble.”

“….is that possible?”

“Well, I….it is not unheard of between a mother and child, I suppose. A mother’s instinct, that is what they call it, yes? All the same, I no longer feel tired thanks to your healing, my child.”

It wasn’t a completely foreign subject to you – you’d heard about such things on the surface; mothers waking up in the middle of the night when their children have met with tragedy. Somehow knowing that magic existed made the idea much more feasible….

….that and having a mother at last, of course.

“Heh, can’t say I regret over-using my magic if it made you feel better.”

Toriel huffed disapprovingly at that, her expression just as unhappy as her tones.

“My child, that line of thought is very self destructive! Please, only work within your means-”

“But what if…..what if I needed to work to that edge?”

Toriel paused at that, her thunderous expression falling into something far more subdued as she thought that particular fact over.

As neither of you could deny that that day could easily come, especially if beings like Flowey were prowling about.

“….then all I can ask is for you to be very careful in every other instance. Learn how to control your magic before you learn how to use it to it’s full potential.”

You nod in agreement to that, before laughing under your breath.

“Something tells me that Undyne isn’t going to like that. The, uh, not using my magic to the full potential yet.”

“Hmpf. If she is the _tru_ _ly_ the Captain of the Royal Guard, then she will know how important restraint is, _especially_ when it comes to a new magic user!”

You snorted slightly; oh man, you could only imagine Undyne’s face if she knew she was being potentially told off by the former Queen, no less.

“Heh, don’t worry – I’m sure that Sans or hell, even Papyrus would tell her off if she went too far. She just gets….really excitable sometimes. Especially since with me being a mage, we have a shot at getting the barrier open without any unnecessary….. _yeah._ ”

Toriel’s brow puckered with slight concern, but she nodded all the same, knowing that Sans and Papyrus would be looking out for you – then, she paused.

“….my child. Have you….have you spoken to….Asgore about this, yet?”

The silence stretched for a moment, given the fact that you were a little surprised by the question; before you slowly shook your head.

“Uh….no. I’ve never met him. And I….I mean, I don’t think he even knows about me being here. I would have thought that I’d know already if he had, heh...”

You shudder inwardly at the thought of the King making his way down to Snowdin to drag you out….but then, given what you knew about the guy, you had to wonder if he actually would. There was a lot of contradiction in that area.

“...I guess I’ll have to talk to him at some point, given everything...”

Toriel promptly shook her head, grasping your arm with panic in her eyes.

“No, my child, you mustn’t. _Please._ Asgore will not show you mercy, and even under the circumstances, I am not sure that he will-”

“Mum….I have a lot of friends on my side on this. They won’t just stand by, I’m sure of it.”

Toriel simply shook her head vehemently once again.

“Asgore does not listen to reason. He….he couldn’t even grant mercy to _children_ , y/n. Children!”

You gulped at that, looking down at the floor as you slowly uttered your next sentence.

“Than I’d….I’d better prepare myself.”

“ _My child-”_

“I won’t let him kill me. I’ve got….too much to lose. Too many people who care about me, heh. I wouldn’t lose that for the world and more. No, I mean….I’d better practise. At magic, at dodging….just in case.”

After a long, hard moment, she drew you into a hug, letting out a slightly mournful sound as she did so.

“….please promise me that you’ll be careful. Do not take risks, especially not with him.”

“I’ll do what I can, don’t worry.”

She slowly released you from the hug with a soft chuckle at that, giving you a rueful look.

“I will _always_ worry, I’m afraid.”

But just as you begin to protest this, a knock sounds at the door, a slightly wary, very familiar deep voice echoing from the other side.

 

“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but….me and Paps are done cooking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *phew* Well, that was something to write. Hope that all made some sense? >.<  
> Annnyyyywwaaaaays, got you own fanart? Or want to ask me a question, or just chat? Here's my tumblr!  
> https://crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> And I also have a discord now, where we all hang out and talk about random things. It's pretty good ;p Just ask if you want a link! :3  
> Aaaaaannnnd I have a Twitter! Just in case Tumblr burns to the ground, which is looking likely. https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas

**Author's Note:**

> My, oh my, Reader....and so, your journey begins. (well, sort of..)
> 
> I really, really hope that you guys enjoy this, and the adventure to come! 'Cause man, is it going to be one (aka, this is taking me a stupidly long time to write, please be patient <3)  
> But hey, in the meantime, I will absoulutely love anyone who draws fanart *.* Well, I mean, I love you all...but...but....fanart! So if you have some, chuck it at my tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/crusnikroxas  
> 


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